Eventually though, Jane understood that it was none other than her feline Bella who had been nicking gloves from her neighbours in Prestwich, Manchester, UK.

“We have had every little thing from worker’s gloves, gardening, also medical gloves.

Jane said she and also her husband Ian had tried to return the handwear covers to their rightful owners but to no make use.

The nine-year-old feline typically strikes at night time during the warmer months, when people leave gloves out in their gardens – wrongly assuming they aren’t leaving themselves vulnerable to a cat burgling.

Jane, 54, said: “They just kept coming and coming. She started doing it about four years ago.

“I have a massive bag of gloves, there are about 50 odd in there. Some of them are brand new.

“We have had everything from workman’s gloves, gardening, even surgical gloves. She has even brought back a paint brush and a pair of knickers in the past.

“It starts in spring when the weather gets nice. Every couple of weeks we will get something.

“We have had a few recently with the nice weather. We just laugh about it, it is so funny.”

Jane’s daughter, Hannah, recently decided it was time to out Bella to the local community, sharing her criminal secret on the Original Prestwich People Facebook page.

Fortunately, the post didn’t prompt a mob of enraged gloveless locals to come knocking on Jane’s door, rather, the community have all seen the funny side of it too.

Jane said: “Everyone seems to have found it hilarious. She is becoming a renowned thief.

“It makes me laugh that there are all these neighbours putting their gloves down and coming back to find they are gone.

“Bella is so sweet-natured, you would not think she was going out at night on the prowl. Her alter ego must come out when it is dark. I often wonder how far Bella goes at night.”

Jane said she and her husband Ian had tried to return the gloves to their rightful owners but to no avail.

She said: “I have said that anyone who wants them back can come to collect them, but no one seems too bothered.

“It has made everyone smile in the current climate.”

But if you do live in the Prestwich area and you have mysteriously lost a pair of gloves in the last few years, it might be worth giving Jane a ring.