Police have increased patrols in Penryn after a woman was spotted peering through a resident’s car with a flashlight in the middle of the night.

Victor Tullin was alerted by a neighbour in the early hours of yesterday morning (Thursday May 16) about the suspicious figure in Dunstan Close.

He was just about to go to bed, but came outside to investigate just after midnight when he spotted the woman, roughly in her early 20s, hiding in the bushes by his car.

Victor pointed a torch into where the woman was hiding, and at this point she identified herself, saying “I’m coming out, I’m coming out.”

The Dunstan Close resident, who is disabled, then tried to take a picture of her before she knocked his phone out of his hands and fled on foot towards Calver Close.

Dismissing the idea that the incident might have been an alarming one, Victor told the Packet: “I wasn’t frightened, my wife wasn’t frightened. I’m just not used to the idea that someone would think it’s okay to do this.”

“It was a girl being silly, thinking she could do what she was doing.”

He says that the foliage around where his car is usually parked has become overgrown and is obscuring the light from a streetlamp, which may have inspired the potential thief to target his car.

He said: “What I have done since is contacted the council and asked them to cut all the foliage back. Usually they cut it annually but this year they haven’t cut it back.”

The unfazed would-be-victim said that the incident was “unprecedented” in his years of living at Dunstan Close.

He said: “It was an opportunist situation, I can only assume. We have good neighbours. Within Dunstan Close, everyone sort of looks out for everyone.

“We could have been looking at a totally different situation if the neighbour hadn’t witnessed it.”

A spokesperson for Devon and Cornwall Police confirmed that neighbourhood officers will be increasing their foot patrols in the area following the incident.

They said: “Police have been informed of a woman acting suspiciously just after midnight on Thursday 16 May.

“It was reported that a woman had been seen shining a torch into a vehicle, parked on Dunstan Close, Penryn.

“She is described as being in hers 20s and around 5ft 6ins tall with dark hair and left on foot in the direction of Calver Close.

“Anyone who witnessed any acting suspiciously in the area and anyone with information is asked to contact police on 101 quoting log 141 of 16/5/19.

“Additionally, the neighbourhood team will be increasing their foot patrols in the area.”