Pet owners are being urged to be on their guard after two men tried to grab a dog from a van parked on a driveway in March.

Groomer Emma Butler was inside the van clipping a dog for a customer when one of the men reached inside an open window on the driver’s side and tried to grab her dog Belle who was sitting on the front seat.

“Please everybody be on your guard,” said Emma of Emma’s Posh Paws, who said the incident happened in Grounds Avenue at about 2pm.

“With the warm weather approaching, so many of us dog owners leave vehicle windows open so our pets get air.

“I never thought I would be vulnerable to a dog theft being parked in somebody’s drive. It has shocked me.

“I just want everybody to be aware and keep an eye on their dogs at all times.”

The two men had been seen going door to door in the area offering free dog products to residents.

They had offered towels, bowls and blankets and said they were ex convicts trying to do good for the community.

The pair had visited the home of Emma’s customer but when they were told they had no interest the men walked away from the customer’s door and tried to steal Emma’s dog, a miniature Yorkie.

The windows of Emma’s van are blacked out in the back so they would not have realised there was anybody inside.

Emma said: “I rushed out and asked what they thought they were doing but they ran off.”

The men are described as tall with shaven heads. One wore a black jumper and the other a grey jumper.

A police spokesman said: “We received a call reporting two men acting suspiciously in Grounds Avenue, March.

“The men attempted to enter a van and coax a dog towards them.

“When approached and asked what they were doing, the men ran off in an unknown direction.”