IPSWICH: Police on the trail of perfume thieves followed the scent to within 100 metres of Ipswich police station before nabbing a pair of shoplifters.

Today professional thieves Maria-Elane Ivanciu and Mariana Mateescu are awaiting their fate after being caught in possession of stolen perfume valued at more than �2,700.

The haul had been pinched from Debenhams in Westgate Street.

The pair, who had also stolen clothes worth nearly �6,000 from four stores over a two-week period in Ipswich, Colchester and Cambridge, were arrested after police were tipped off by store security staff.

When officers caught up with the thieves in Elm Street – a short distance from the police station and the magistrates’ court - they discovered the perfume and also a large amount of clothes.

The items were found inside the Volvo and its boot.

The teenage Ivanciu and Mateescu, 25, also took clothing from JD Sports in Tavern Street, as well as Next in Westgate Street.

Earlier in the day the thieves had pilfered more goods from Superdry in Cambridge.

All four thefts took place last Thursday.

Other clothes found in the Volvo were belonged to JD Sports in Colchester, where they had been stolen from on March 15.

The perfume stolen from Debenhams was valued at �2,717, while the clothes were said to be worth �5,856.

Ivanciu, 19, of Bennetts Castle Lane, Dagenham, and Mateescu, of Cobden Road, London, were taken to Martlesham’s police investigation centre where they were interviewed by officers.

The pair were charged with theft on Friday.

They appeared before South East Suffolk Magistrates’ Court on Saturday where they each pleaded guilty to five counts of shoplifting.

Their cases were committed to Ipswich Crown Court. They will be sentenced at a later date and are currently remanded in custody.

Andrei-Valentin Jidoveanu, 24 of Old Church Road, London, was also charged with five counts of theft after being arrested on Thursday.

However, his case was adjourned and he is due to re-appear before Ipswich magistrates today.