POLICE are handing out free security devices to shoppers to help stop pickpockets.

Purse chains, which allow people to secure purses to their bags, are part of an initiatiative to help crackdown on theft.

The chains have a clip at each end, which lets people secure a purse to their bag, acting as a deterrent to crooks.

Officers were in Spa Road, Hockley, handing out the chains and giving free advice at the first of a series of crime awareness days around Hockley and Rayleigh.

PC Steve Joynes, of Hockley Neighbourhood Policing Team, said: "The chains are intended to alert people.

"Should anyone attempt to remove their purse from their bag, they will know immediately.

"The chains also act as a deterrent to pickpockets, making it more difficult for them to lift the purse without being noticed.

"However, if someone is determined to snatch a purse or bag, people should not resist and risk injury.

"We advice people to let it go, and then contact the police immediately."

More than 900 chains are being handed out across Rayleigh and Rochford, having been bought by Hockley Chamber of Trade and Rochford District Council.

Among other chain fitting events includes one on Thursday, between noon and 3pm, in Rayleigh High Street, on Thursday, August 23.

Then there is another in Golden Cross, Ashingdon, on Thursday, August 30, outside the Co-op, in High Street, Wakering.