A JEWELLER has slammed Essex Police after officers failed to turn up when he gave them details of a £12,000 fraud which was taking place.

Stewart Lawson, who runs Tiptree Jewellers, on Church Road, Tiptree, said he felt “let down” after no action was taken when he reported the crime.

On Tuesday morning the jewellers became the subject of a £8,500 sting when a woman using a card registered in Australia made a purchase over the phone.

A taxi was sent for the jewels later that day and the items were handed over at a park in Westcliff.

He said: “A lady by the name of Monica phoned up on June 7 with a plausible story about her being a victim of a burglary and said the insurance would cover it.

“She paid for it by card over the phone.

“It was for £8,500 and she said she would send a recorded taxi driver.

“It was not the first time [for a payment like this] but it will be the last.”

The next day Mr Lawson was informed the transaction had been fraudulent and he reported the incident to Essex Police.

But less than an hour later the woman called again and tried to make a further £4,500 purchase.

With the woman talking to another member of staff Mr Lawson called the police and passed on the details of what was happening and when the exchange would take place.

But Mr Lawson said he is “angry and disappointed” after police told him they could not guarantee they would be able to attend that afternoon.

“I was saying they needed to be at the shop at 4.30pm but they said it was not as easy as that,” he said.

“They said they were not sure what they were going to be doing at 4.30pm.

“By the fourth call I was begging for the police to turn up and try to do something.

“I am really angry, disappointed and feel really, really, let down.”

Mr Lawson said the whole experience had been an “absolute shambles”.

He added: “I have owned Tiptree Jewellers for five years and I don’t think I have even seen a police car [in that time] and I have never seen anyone in uniform.”

Mr Lawson said he had still not received a call back from an officer on Thursday afternoon.

A spokesman for Essex Police said: "Police were contacted from Tiptree Jewellers at around 1.50pm on Tuesday, June 8 with reports of suspicious circumstances.

"It was reported that a payment of a four figure sum was believed to be fraudulent and officers were asked to attend when collection of the purchases was due to take place. The payment had been blocked.

"The caller was advised to contact Action Fraud who deal with incidents of this nature and to stop the transaction to prevent any fraud from happening.

"It was not confirmed whether a fraud had taken place.

"Essex Police receives about 650 emergency (999) calls every day, in addition to about 900 calls on the non-emergency number (101).

"It is a key priority to reach emergency calls as soon as possible in order to help those in most need of police assistance, and we assess every call based on threat, harm , risk and vulnerability.

"Where there is immediate danger or threat of personal injury, we aim to be on the scene within 15 minutes for urban emergencies and within 20 minutes in rural areas.

"However, a number of factors could affect response times. For example, there may be significant incidents happening elsewhere in the district, or within the county, that require a high level of resource. There may also be a large number of priority calls that officers are attending."