A bungling thief on a scooter crashed when he tried to steal a woman's handbag.

The man on a white scooter rode beside the husband, Manasukhbhai Gothadiya, and his wife, Vijayaben Ramapura, before grabbing the bag from the woman but failed in Gujarat, India, on February 8.

CCTV footage shows the thief swerving as he attempted to snatch the bag, but he lost control of his two-wheeler as the wife refused to let go.

The three of them fell from their vehicles while the thief managed to escape despite the husband grabbing him with the help of onlookers.

Police Inspector JB Chaudhari said: ‘The scooter that was used was later traced using the registration number. Police began their search for the suspect.'

The wife Vijayaben said her bag contained 450 INR (4.29 GBP) when the man tried to steal it but ended up with 200,000 INR (1,908.08 GBP) medical to treat a bone fracture she sustained from the fall.

Authorities are still searching for the motorcycle riding thief during the investigation.