A woman from Temple Fortune turned have-a-go-hero and chased a pair of criminals – causing them to drop a wad of stolen cash – after an elderly woman was robbed at a nearby cashpoint.

Tracy Bush, 32, was driving past when she spotted the pair lurking behind the pensioner at the machine outside Barclays Bank in the Finchley Road.

Tracy told the Ham&High: “I was at the traffic lights opposite Barclays when I noticed the two men standing right behind her at the cashpoint.

“Being British I know you don’t stand that close to somebody – we give someone a couple of metres.

“Then I saw one of them threw a fiver on the floor and another one nicked the money – about £400.

Tracy explained she used her car horn to shock the robbers, and this caused them to drop the cash. However when she saw them run off she felt she had to give chase.

“I chased them in the car and saw them go down the side street and I tried to reverse the car but another blocked me in. I was shouting ‘they’ve just robbed a woman’ but obviously they got away.”

She then went back to check up on the older women, who is in her 70s, and saw the money was still lying on the ground.

Angus Mackay, who was in the bank with a relative when he witnessed the aftermath of the incident, told this newspaper: “The woman – Tracy – was a bit of a heroine, really.” Tracy added: “She was in such shock, she couldn’t understand what had happened.

“We all go through bad times, I’ve had to sofa-surf in the past. But I still don’t commit crime and steal from others.

“We all need to remain good people.”

Barclays confirmed it was co-operating with the police.

A police spokesperson said: “Police were called on September 5 to reports of a theft outside a bank.

“The victim, a woman in her 70s, was withdrawing money from a cash machine when a suspect approached and told her she had dropped a £5 note in an attempt to distract her.”

No arrests have been made and police enquiries continue.