POLICE have acted to quash social media rumours that the Penn Inn subway system in Newton Abbot has been a venue for a spate of muggings.

A spokesman insisted this week: ‘We would like to assure people that no such offences have been reported to us.

‘The rumours appear to have been prompted by two incidents which are being investigated.’

These relate to a woman in the subway who ran off after two men demanded the earphones she was wearing. She was upset by the incident, but not harmed.

In a second incident, at the nearby Sainsbury’s car park on February 2 which has already been reported on locally, a woman was the victim of a distraction theft after her debit card was grabbed from her handbag in her vehicle.

The police spokesman said: ‘It is important to stress that none of the women has been physically harmed during these incidents and the offenders are targeting them for money and bank cards from purses and handbags.’

He said both matters were being probed.