A QUICK-THINKING workman has told how he came to the rescue of a woman whose purse was snatched as she lay collapsed in a shopping street.
Shoppers rushed to help the woman, believed to be in her 60s, while an ambulance was called, but one man is said to have seized the opportunity to grab her purse.
Mark Jackson, who is working on the £2.5m revamp of Beverley's Saturday Market, chased the man, catching up with him in the car park in Saturday Market.
He said: "I've never ran so fast. I was fuming. I couldn't believe what I was seeing."
Mr Jackson had just returned to work shortly before 5pm on Friday after checking on the woman who had collapsed near Vanessa's Delicatessen And Café.
Passersby had called an ambulance.
Mr Jackson, 33, of east Hull, said: "People started shouting that someone had gone into her handbag.
"A man started jogging off and that's when the women around her said her purse had been taken.
"I ran across the car park and grabbed him and my work colleagues helped me pin him down.
"He was trying to fight us off, but we grabbed him and pulled him down and an off-duty police officer rang some of his colleagues.
"I really couldn't believe what was happening, especially with this happening in Beverley.
"The lady was taken away in an ambulance so I'm not sure how she is doing."
Others who witnessed the commotion praised the workmen's actions.
Mike Guest, of Guest And Philips Jewellers in Saturday Market, said: "I saw the men running across the building site and I wondered what was going on.
"They grabbed hold of a man and after a bit of a struggle put him on the ground.
"It happened just outside the new delicatessen.
"Two or three workmen ran after him and one caught him.
"Luckily, the workmen managed to grab him and hold him until the police came.
"You don't expect this kind of thing to happen in Beverley.
"I think the woman had been shopping in the town."
Mr Guest said the workmen deserved praise.
He said: "A lot of people would have done nothing and just not wanted to get involved.
"All credit to the workmen and their quick thinking."
Mr Guest's assistant said: "I was calling the police when I saw the workmen holding this chap and putting him to the floor.
"Their efforts were brilliant."
Mr Jackson is employed by Galliford Try, one of the contractors involvement in the improvement work.
The first phase of work, which is concentrating on repairing and improving the York stone pavements, is under way.
It is anticipated work on the footpaths will be complete by early summer, when the focus of the scheme will move on to the market place, surrounding roads and Market Cross.
Earlier this year, Humberside police and crime commissioner Matthew Grove called on residents to play a greater role in crime-fighting.
He said: "There will never be enough police officers to prevent every crime and police every street corner, which is why I want the normal citizen to be motivated to call the emergency services or provide information to their local neighbourhood team and to be willing to give evidence in court to secure a prosecution.
"There are lots of things citizens can do to become more active with the police to help tackle crime and antisocial behaviour. This includes joining a neighbourhood watch group, becoming a special constable or volunteering."
No one from Humberside Police was available this weekend to comment.
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