SHOPPERS in Redcar and Cleveland are being warned to wise up to a scam which could already have left them out of pocket.

Customers of an East Cleveland supermarket contacted police after discovering that £50 cashback had been added to their shopping bills.

Over a number of weeks a checkout operator had apparently been adding the amount to debit or credit card bills and pocketing the cash. The store is carrying out its own internal investigation.

Police think other people may have fallen foul of the scam and are urging shoppers to keep all receipts until they check that their accounts have been debited correctly.

Sgt Dan Maddison of Redcar Police said: "Customers should be aware that this has been happening and businesses should do periodic checks on such transactions if they don't already."

Anyone who thinks they were caught by this scam should contact their local police station.