Teenager appears to remove her purse before heading off with the item

Pensioner is completely unaware as boy fishes around in her handbag

Distracted lady turns around to pick them up and leaves bag unattended

This shocking footage captures the brazen actions of a teenage 'pickpocket', who skilfully distracted an old lady before appearing to steal her purse.

A CCTV camera caught the incident taking place in broad daylight in the aisle of a supermarket in Senden, a town in the south of Germany.

Local media has since named the victim as 74-year-old Heidemarie Besser and police are believed to know the identity of the boy, who they say is 14 years old, reported RuhrNachrichte.

The teenager walked up behind the woman (left) and dropped toilet rolls on the floor to distract her (right)

Captured on camera is the moment the teenager creeps up behind the woman in the aisle and spots her handbag hanging from her trolley.

He appears to eat some chocolate before emptying his hands and turning his attention to the elderly lady looking at the shelves.

Suddenly he picks up a packet of toilet rolls and like a seasoned professional throws them onto the ground to create a distraction.

Meanwhile he dives behind the woman so that when she turns around to look at the floor she is unable to see him.

The pensioner did not appear to noticed the toilet rolls falling (left) but the teenager began fishing in her bag nevertheless (right)

The teenager was unable to remove the purse with the woman standing so close to her trolley, so he knocked a second item from the shelf

The initial attempt does not quite go to plan for the 'pickpocket' however as the woman stands close to her trolley and ignores the toilet roll.

Despite the setback the teenager wastes no time in trying his luck and bends down and begins fishing in her handbag.

He keeps himself crouched in a position that enables him to remain undetected but is at this point unable to remove the purse.

Pulling away for a moment, the teenage briefly returns to the bag before knocking another item from the shelf.

This time the woman heard the object hitting the ground and turned around to pick it up from the floor while the teenager returned to her bag

The process for the teenager appeared to take slightly longer than anticipated as the woman placed the item back on the shelf

This time the woman hears the object hitting the ground and turns around to pick it up.

This action allows the teenager to return to the handbag and search for the purse without the woman standing over him.

The process appears to take slightly longer than anticipated but eventually the boy appears to remove the purse and head off with the stolen item.

The video concludes with the woman continuing with her shop, completely oblivious to what has just happened.