A thief in New Zealand has taken the unusual step of leaving his contact details at the site of his crime.

The man reserved a copy of Pink Floyd's The Wall at a record shop in Christchurch, leaving his name and phone number, before robbing the till.

He was a regular customer at the shop and already had several records on order.

Store manager Garry Knight described the unconventional method of stealing as one of dumbest things ever done.

Mr Knight said that although the shop assistant's attention had been distracted by helping another customer, two other people in the shop had witnessed the theft on Friday.

"It's comical," he said

Mr Knight said that if the man had looked up, he would have seen a monitor showing him dipping into the till from four different angles.

Police were contacted but the man had left the area.

Mr Knight predicted the case would not take long to crack.