An Augusta Park grandmother has spoken out after thieves stole a parcel of toys for her two-year-old grandson.

Patricia Kaplan had ordered some toys to entertain her grandson with over streaming, but found it had disappeared from her doorstep. Only when watching back footage on her video doorbell did she discover that her parcel had been taken, only minutes after it was delivered.

She told the Advertiser: “It seems to stick in your head, it annoys you. I must have watched the footage 10 times and tried not to get angry. How dare they!”

She added: “I feel guilty of all this fuss when it’s a small package but I think it’s the whole principle behind it which is just very stressful.”

Parcel theft has become an increasing problem, as more and more of us turn to getting deliveries from online shopping. This has only increased during the pandemic, with many physical stores closed due to lockdown restrictions.

While Hampshire may be one of the safest areas for parcel thefts, with only 67 in total across 2018 and 2019 according to Packsend, it doesn’t mean that it doesn’t happen, as Patricia attests.

The semi-retired maths teacher had ordered toys for her grandson, in particular pop-up toys that she said he “absolutely loves”.

“During Covid, I haven’t been able to see my grandson for such a long time,” she said. “He’s only two, so I buy little fun things and I do ‘The Grandma Show’ over video where he watches all these toys.”

Her parcel was delivered at around 11:50am on Thursday, March 24, with the postwoman leaving her parcel on the doorstep.

“The annoying thing for me is that I was home,” she said, “and I just didn’t hear the Royal Mail lady, who is amazing and always knocks fiercely, at all.”

Patricia only realised shortly after midday that a package had been delivered at all, when her husband noticed her garden gate had been left open. Patricia then watched the footage back on her Ring video doorbell, and saw the two men she alleges stole her parcel.

“They were canvassing and standing outside the gate,” she said. “Obviously, they were eyeing the parcel and walked on, they didn’t have masks on then so it captured their full faces.

“Then they came back with masks on and, of course, the camera caught one of them coming in while the other stood outside the perimeter. He took the parcel.”

Patricia reported the theft to the police, and shared the footage with them. Shortly afterwards, she saw the two men she suspects of taking her parcel outside her house, and confronted them.

“They walked past so casually about two hours after my package had been stolen,” she said, “and I opened my window and I said: ‘I hope you realise I’ve got your photograph now and you’ve been reported to the police’. They turned back quite sharpish and speeded up walking away.”

Patricia then shared her experience online, and found that other neighbours had also been suffering from parcel thefts.

“It sounds like it’s been happening quite a lot,” she said. “The neighbours want to make very sure they get their items now. I would have liked to have known about this beforehand so I could keep an eye out just in case.”

Patricia says that following the theft, the postwoman for her road won’t be leaving parcels outside houses anymore.

“It does make you really think,” she said, “and so now with Amazon I’m going to go with one of the lockers.

“It seems to stick in your head, it annoys you. I must have watched the footage 10 times and tried not to get angry. How dare they!”

She added: “I feel guilty of all this fuss when it’s a small package but I think it’s the whole principle behind it which is just very stressful.”

After being contacted by the Advertiser, Hampshire Constabulary said: “We are investigating a report of a parcel being stolen from outside an address in Oat Road, Andover.

“The parcel was stolen just after 12pm on Wednesday 24 March.

“Officers are still investigating and following all lines of enquiry currently available to them.”