A 60-year-old woman who was mugged during the Royal visit to North Wiltshire gave chase after the thieves and recovered her handbag thanks to two good Samaritans.

Jillian Parsons had been out shopping for her 86 year-old mother and was keen to get home to look after her.

She was waiting for a bus to Derriads Lane at Chippenham bus station, less than half an hour before the Queen and Prince Philip arrived at the railway station on Friday.

"I'm not an anti-royalist but I was cold and I was worried about my elderly mother who depends on me a lot. I just wanted to get home with my shopping," said Mrs Parsons.

"I was waiting for the bus and had my handbag by me, when out of the blue someone grabbed it and disappeared around the corner.

"I hotfooted it after them. I didn't really think about it, but they took my handbag, so off I went."

The men ran into the gentleman's toilets behind the bus station and if hadn't been for the swift actions of two young men who saw what had happened, Mrs Parsons might never have seen her bag again.

"Two very public-spirited men came to my aid. They must have seen what happened and moments later they came out of the toilets with my handbag and everything intact. I don't know who they were but I would really like to thank them."

Within minutes, police had arrived on the scene and arrested a 17 year-old boy.

He was charged with theft and appeared before magistrates in Chippenham on Saturday.

"There were police everywhere because it was obviously right near the place where royalty was about to arrive."

"A passing police officer must have seen all the commotion."

She said she didn't know if she would give chase if the same thing happened to her again.

"It was a spur of the moment reaction but in retrospect it was maybe a bit silly.

"They could have had a knife or a gun or anything."

Mrs Parsons said it was refreshing to know that there were still some good-natured people in the world who were happy to help a stranger in need.

"It's nice to know there are still some good people around and not just the baddies.

"I'm most grateful to the young men. I did say thank at the time but I was in shock and didn't know who they were."