A COMMUNITY has come together to help a pensioner who was mugged while Christmas shopping in Taunton over the weekend.

The victim, a 77-year-old man, was followed by a man as he walked away from the Lloyds Bank cashpoint in Fore Street and into East Street, at about 12.15pm on Sunday.

Police say the thief grabbed the victim's wallet from his back pocket, which had £160 cash in it, and ran off towards the vehicle archway opposite Primark, through Sainsbury's car park and towards Silver Street.

As news of the theft spread, dozens of people on Facebook said they would help the elderly man by putting donation tins around Taunton.

A number of shops in Taunton and Wellington have decided to get a collection tin, including Timpsons on North Street, Taunton, to help raise funds to replace the money the man had taken from him.

Investigating officer PC Gary Pethick said: “The victim was going to use the money to get his Christmas shopping so this is a particularly heartless crime.

“The main CCTV image shows a man walking behind the victim, while the other two shows the man running away.”

Today (December 4), police arrested one man, in his 30s, on suspicion of theft and taken to Taunton Police Station.

He was interviewed about the incident and released on bail pending further enquires.

If you can help police, call PC Gary Pethick or PC James Breakwell via the 24-hour non-emergency number 101.