The police caught two Bulgarian pickpockets red-handed in Sliema today at 11am.

The 23-year-old and 36-year-old women were working as a team, with one acting as a spotter while the other stole a purse from a woman waiting at a bus stop on Tower Street.

The police arrested the women, who are expected to be arraigned in court tomorrow.

Following a rise in the number of thefts in Sliema and St Julians, particularly from bus stops and on the buses themselves, the police have stepped up investigations and patrols. In fact, a number of Romanians and Bulgarians were being monitored, the police said.