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A pair of hypnotists are being hunted by police after a victim claimed she was put in a trance before being robbed.

Police in Germany are investigating a spate of crimes involving two Russian women who tell their victims they will read their fortune.

In one incident 66 year-old Sarah Alexeyeva told detectives she was spoken to outside an Aldi supermarket in Elmshorn, Schleswig-Holstein.

But the next thing she knew she snapped out of a trance and was sat in her armchair at home.

All her jewellery and valuables had disappeared, police said.

Spokeswoman Sandra Mohr said: "She claims that the pair put her into a trance in order to rob her.

"She had no idea how they did it, one minute she was being promised the future and the next she knew she was back home."

There are other victims, according to officers, and the suspects are believed to be a woman aged 35-years-old and a larger 55 year-old woman.

"They seem to be able to get the interest of their victims with a promise to see the future," said Mohr.

She added: "But the only future they are promising is to rob their victims.

"They target mostly older women and in particular foreign women, who may feel less secure living in Germany and are more interested as a result in the spiritual promises of the pair."