A SERIES of curious thefts have left a resident “gobsmacked” after her bin bags were stolen FOUR times from outside her house.

Irene Slater keeps her full-up bin bags outside her house in Stour Road, Bathside, Harwich, due to the smell which wafts from them.

But, despite their stench, a repeat perpetrator continues to pinch them under the cover of night.

Ms Slater’s next door neighbour now refuses to put her rubbish outside for fear of being targeted.

They are worried they could be the victims of identity theft.

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“It happened for the first time last year,” Ms Slater, 59, said. “I knew I had a bag outside but when I walked out to go to work that morning it wasn’t there.

“I just stood there gobsmacked, I thought ‘Where the hell is it?’. It was too early for the bin men to have taken it.

“No-one had moved it on to the path, it really was nowhere to be seen. The whole thing completely shocked me, I just can’t get my head around where it could be if it hasn’t been stolen.

“It’s just so strange – why would you steal a bin bag?

“My rubbish consists of cat litter and empty cat food packets. It stinks that’s why I put it outside.

“You’d think whoever took it would’ve learnt from the first time, and then surely by the second. I would’ve thought they’d have opened it up, realised there’s nothing but a bad smell in there and never came back.”

Ms Slater isn’t the only person to have seen her brimming bin bags nicked... her neighbour has also woken up to an empty space outside her house.

“Next door won’t put her rubbish outside because of it all now, she doesn’t want hers to be taken again.

“Whoever is behind this must have transport as well as the day they took my neighbour’s they took two of mine as well and believe me, it’s not light - they’re quite heavy bags.

“Apparently it could be identity fraud but there’s nothing of value inside so I don’t think they’ve got anything from me information-wise, although it’s still unsettling.

“It’s certainly not as bad as being burgled but it still makes you think ‘Woah, what’s going on here?’ “I’m not taking it personally but it’s just such a strange situation.”