A 56-year-old woman was pinned to the ground by robbers who escaped with £6,000 of jewellery when they struck in Mortlake last week. The incident came just one day after another woman lost £7,000 of jewellery in another robbery in the same area.

In the latest case an American woman was attacked after she parked her car in North Worpole Way on October 11 at 11.45pm. As she got out of her car and reached into the back seat, a man looked and smiled at her through the passenger window.

This frightened her so she got back into the car and locked the doors, waited a short while and when she felt it would be ok, got out of the car.

One of the robbers then grabbed her from behind and put her in a headlock and forced her to the floor.

As she lay on her back she saw two other men approach, who took hold of her arms and stole her jewellery. All three men then walked away along North Worpole Way and the woman went to the nearest house for help.

The robbers escaped with three expensive items, a 1920s diamond ring with a flat Victorian setting, worth £4,000. They also took a blue topaz ring with diamonds worth £1,000 and a Raymond Weil watch worth £1,000. The suspects are all described as being 25-year-old black males, about 6ft tall. Call PC Kathy Fenwick on 8247 7042 or kathryn.fenwick@met.police.uk or DC Merriman on 8247 7032.