A North Shore woman says she was given a “total bulls***” excuse by a pair of suspected mail thieves after interrupting them in the act.

Johanna Skau Bremner, from Beach Haven, busted the suspected thieves using copies of the Property Press as a ruse to open mailboxes and rifle through their contents.

Bremner was leaving her Island Bay Road home last Saturday afternoon to go for a walk with her family when she noticed that she had received a parcel.

She opened it, checked its contents and proceeded with her walk, leaving the parcel in her mailbox.

Bremner noticed a man going from house to house with copies of the magazine as she walked to a popular nearby beach, but didn’t think much of it as she regularly sees magazines and circulars being delivered.

Property Press copies are widely available in bulk outside real estate agents’ offices.

She told the Herald that when she returned home and noticed her package was missing, it “clicked”.

 “It must be that guy.”

She found the man further down the road with a female associate.

Bremner asked about her package - the pair said their “friend” on a neighbouring street might have it.

As Bremner followed the pair she spotted an item from her package on the ground.

“What’s this doing here?” she asked the woman, who could not provide an explanation.

The man returned from the neighbouring street with the package in his hand - and no “friend” in sight.

He then provided a remarkable excuse for his behaviour.

Bremner told the Herald the man claimed: “Well, when we do our afternoon runs we always take the parcels we find out of the mailbox and put them back in on our way back to prevent people from stealing it”.

She said their story was “total bulls***”.

She told the Herald that the pair appeared to be “wasted on drugs”.

The man did not fit the profile of a Property Press contractor - and was delivering on the wrong day. Photo / Supplied

The Herald understands police have fingerprinted the package.

A police spokesperson told the Herald no arrests have been made, but police were investigating.

Jason Hussey, general manager of Property Press, told the Herald it was the first time he had heard of this sort of behaviour.

He said that their North Shore deliveries take place on a Thursday evening or on Friday and locals should be suspicious of anyone delivering the magazines outside of those days.

He said anyone concerned could ask the individuals who they worked for but suggested that the individuals in this case did not fit the usual profile of their delivery contractors, who tended to be young teenagers.