A THIEF snatched £8,000 worth of diamond rings from a jewellers in Banbury.

A man entered Lumbers Jewellers in the High Street, Banbury, at about 3pm on Friday and spoke with the staff for about 20 minutes.

He looked at several diamond rings and then he picked up a pad of seven diamond rings and ran out of the shop.

He went passed Cafe Nero and got into the passenger side door of a black hatchback. The car was parked next to the public toilets, near to the town hall and McDonald's, in Bridge Street ,and it drove off quickly.

Police said the man was white and aged between 18 and 22. He was about 5ft 5in tall, slim and had very short, shaven light brown or blond hair. He was wearing a beige shirt that was buttoned up with dark stripy tie.

PC Paul Smith said: "I would like to appeal to anyone who might have witnessed the theft or have seen the car.

"The car was parked near to the town hall for almost 30 minutes. The last three letters of the index are YRE and I am keen to hear from anyone who may have seen the car while it was parked or when it drove away and in which direction."

Anyone with any information about the incident to contact PC Smith at Banbury police station via 0845 8 505 505, or if you do not want to talk to the police or give your name, call the Crimestoppers charity on 0800 555 111.