An elderly woman is believed to have stolen an eight-year-old boy’s puppy, weeks after it had been given as a birthday present.

Pinewood Primary School pupil Sabion Fregjaj was left devastated after his two-month-old Staffordshire Bull Terrier was stolen while tied up outside Lidl in Atlanta Road, Romford.

Sabion and dad Nexhmi, of Collier Row Lane, had tied up black and white puppy Bully for just 10 minutes while they shopped in the store around 11.30pm on Thursday March 1.

When they returned the dog was gone, with witnesses claiming to have seen a woman aged around 65-years-old taking it.

Nexhmi, coach of the Romford under-10’s football team, had given Sabion the puppy as a special birthday present for his efforts on the field.

He said: “Sabion is so upset, he keeps waking up in the middle of the night.

“People said they saw a woman over-65 stealing it. But there’s no more information. “There were two security guards there but they didn’t see anything.

Please if anyone can help us find our dog, there must be someone who knows who did this.”

The theft comes just days after nine-week-old puppy Gucci was stolen from a Romford house during a burglary.

The Asmantas family of Meadow Road had the brindle Boxer stolen along with �3,000 worth of jewellery on February 24.

Anyone with information should call Romford police on 101.