Yasmine Zweegers and her coat splattered in brown paint

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IT is a horrid trick which has been performed to choreographed perfection by street thieves in London and beyond for more than three decades, but always comes as a surprise to the unfortunate victims.

So Made In Chelsea star Yasmine Zweegers who fell foul of the “paint squirt” distraction on Sunday evening has delivered a warning that the scam is playing out all over again in the King’s Cross area.

The social media influencer published a long description of how she was hoodwinked while waiting for a cab outside St Pancras International.

A man had secretly squirted brown paint on her coat from behind before telling her she had “s***” on her clothes.

The ruthless thieves pose as good Samaritans and this one offered her tissue to clean it up.

But as she stood confused as to how the brown splodges had got there, her handbag was swiped with balletic precision.

It contained jewellery, a laptop and a camera and other items that she had taken on a weekend away to Yorkshire – items which she has estimated at being worth £8,000.

Ms Zweegers was with her mother at the time and said: “It was mental how we both completely did not even notice when that happened. I take the tissues, and it made me think ‘let me take me coat off to wipe the paint’.

“Now in hindsight, I should have never taken my coat off.

“I was so silly I literally thought he such a kind man, I was saying ‘thank you for the tissues’.”

The scam is demonstrated on ‘The Real Hustle’

The simple scam is familiar to police and it was featured in detail on the BBC programme, The Real Hustle, 20 years ago when viewers were warned never to take their coats off if a random stranger says there’s paint on your back.

“Keep on walking!,” the presenters said. The thieves can use mini water guns to splatter their intended victims or converted ketchup squirters.

A spokesperson for British Transport Police said: “Enquiries are ongoing. We know how upsetting, inconvenient and potentially costly incidents of theft can be.

“Every offence reported provides valuable intelligence which is used to direct our patrols and operations.”

In other areas of the capital and around the country, paint squirting scams have been reported at cash machine when a distraction at the wrong moment can lead to money being swiped.