A young boy had £100 worth of Pokemon cards stolen - in front of his own home.
The boy, aged 11, was holding the cards in his hand when the incident occurred in Pamplins, Laindon.
An older child snatched the cards and ran away.
The theft follows a similar incident in Wickford in April when ten-year-old Jonathan Weedon was assaulted and robbed of an expensive silver foil card, called a Charizard, known to change hands for up to £25.
Pokemon began as a Nintendo game four years ago. The biggest craze is for the cards which feature the Pokemon monsters. A pack of 11 cards sells for about £2.45.
Recently police seized £3,000 of counterfeit Pokemons in a Basildon town centre shop and two batches were discovered at a boot sale in Barleylands.
Converted for the new archive on 19 November 2001. Some images and formatting may have been lost in the conversion.
Comments: Our rules
We want our comments to be a lively and valuable part of our community - a place where readers can debate and engage with the most important local issues. The ability to comment on our stories is a privilege, not a right, however, and that privilege may be withdrawn if it is abused or misused.
Please report any comments that break our rules.
Read the rules hereComments are closed on this article