Two elderly women who were captured on CCTV rifling through a bag left at a train station and stealing a wallet handed themselves into police after their picture was plastered over the papers.

The grey-haired pensioners, who can be seen huddled together and clasping onto each other for support, took the wallet belonging to a Malaysian student after she had left her bag alone for a few minutes.

The pair, one with a bandaged ankle, appear to be laughing to themselves as they shuffle out of the Metro station in Sunderland and into the city centre.

Unbeknownst to the women, thought to be in their 70s, the entire station is covered by a network of CCTV cameras. Police released the images yesterday in the hope of tracking down the thieves and appealed to members of the public who may have known who they were.

The case received a lot of coverage in this morning's papers, where the headlines ranged from 'The Grey Train Robbery' to 'Gran Larceny' and 'The Artful Codgers'.

The women approached police this morning, were interviewed and admitted the offence. British Transport Police, who have not named the women, said they had been cautioned.

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