Car park bosses have pledged to review security at one of their city centre sites to keep its customers safe.
The promise came after a lone woman was confronted by a man on the eighth floor of the NCP in Hall Ings.
The woman, who did not want to be named, was on her way to her car when the man, wearing jeans and a dark top, tried to snatch her bag.
She put up a struggle and he fled empty-handed.
But when the woman tried to get help she found there was no-one manning the car park and attempts to raise the alarm on a buzzer system failed.
Other car park users who tried to help also tried to communicate with the NCP control centre via the buzzer system only to be told the operator could not hear them and would “buzz them back” – but never did.
In response, a spokesman for NCP, said: “We have a CCTV presence in our car parks and a help button which connects customers immediately to our National Operations Centre who contacts our local attendant and sends someone to the car park.
“We are very concerned to hear that this system broke down when the customer called for help and have launched an urgent internal enquiry to find out why this happened.
“It is a very unusual occurrence which we are taking extremely seriously, and we apologise profusely for the anxiety and distress caused.”
The spokesman said NCP will co-operate fully with the police in their inquiries about the attempted bag snatch.
“The safety and security of everyone who uses our car parks is of paramount importance and we do not tolerate violent, abusive or threatening behaviour towards our customers or staff,” he added.
Officers attended the multi-storey after the incident was reported at about 6.15pm on Wednesday and inquiries are continuing.
Anyone with information about the incident should call 0845 6060606.
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