POLICE have been forced to apologise to a Good Samaritan shopper after releasing CCTV implicating her in a "theft" of cash dropped in a New Forest store . 

The woman, in her 50s, picked up £45 dropped by a fellow shopper in McColls newsagents in Milford Road, Lymington - but handed it in at a police station later the same day.

Three months later, an officer investigating the case authorised a press release featuring her picture, saying they needed to trace her as a witness in connection with a theft by finding offence.

Now red-faced officers at the centre of the fiasco have issued an apology, blaming a “breakdown in communication” for the mix-up which led to CCTV footage bearing her image being distributed to the Daily Echo and other media organisations.

The statement urged her to report to officers because she could hold “vital information” into the case, despite the money - believed to belong to a pensioner - having already been handed in.

Yesterday a police spokeswoman confirmed inquiry centre staff had received the money the same day the footage was recorded and added: “Unfortunately the investigating officer was unaware of this when he asked for a media appeal to be issued.

“The officer and area superintendent have both apologised to the woman involved for any embarrassment caused and thanked her for her honesty.

“There was clearly a breakdown in communication in this case and an honest mistake was made in the course of an investigation.

“The money has been returned to its owner.”

She stressed the woman - who was too upset to speak - was not being treated as a suspect in the case.

However the woman is deeply embarrassed and is understood not to have returned to the store since her ordeal.