Luxury handbags strewn across Mayfair after moped smash-and-grab on boutique

 
Mount Street: Handbags were seen strewn across the street in Mayfair (Picture: Google Streetview)
23 June 2014
WEST END FINAL

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Designer handbags were strewn across a Mayfair street after an exclusive boutique was raided by a moped-riding smash and grab gang.

Moynat’s flagship branch in Mount Street is the 10th West End store to fall victim to raiders this year and the fourth this month.

Guests at the Connaught hotel opposite told how they returned to their rooms early yesterday morning to see the handbags — favoured by celebrities including Gwyneth Paltrow and model Natalia Vodianova — scattered along the street.

Three men on two mopeds forced their way into the store before grabbing the bags, which cost upwards of £800 — but dropped some of the haul as they escaped.

Ouissem Ouni, 42, a guest at the Connaught, said: “We came about 2am and saw a policeman guarding the place and there were bags lying all over the floor in the middle of the road. It was very bizarre.

“We are from the UAE and we heard about the woman attacked at the Cumberland Hotel with a hammer in April. People are starting to think they have to be really careful now when they come to the UK. It makes you feel less safe.”

Clement Fabiani, duty manager at the Connaught, said: “We saw the raid that happened at the Dorchester a couple of weeks ago and then when you see it next door like this it is very worrying.”

The Moynat shop opened in March and is the traditional French brand’s first store outside France. It was open as normal today. The value of the items taken is not known.

The spate of raids led to the owner of Designer Exchange, Dominic Durante, who has had £150,000 worth of bags stolen, calling for local traders to fund their own police patrol in the district.

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