Tesco has insisted its cash machines are safe after customers said they had their cards cloned at the Cowley store as long as three months ago.

Like many of the other victims, Elly Pittick from Barton believes it was a skimming device on an ATM outside Tesco in the Oxford Retail Park that allowed fraudsters to take £500 from her account in January.

She was shocked to read about more recent victims in this week's Oxford Mail because she had reported it to the police and the store at the time.

She said: "I thought they would have stopped it after mine, but it looks like it's just carrying on."

Mrs Pittick is the ninth victim to come forward, and between them they have lost more than £4,000. A spokesman for Tesco said nobody could be certain that the offences took place at their machines.

He said: "I am not disputing what your customers are saying, but they have to be 100 per cent sure."

The spokesman said incidents of fraud were tiny compared to how often the machines were used.

He said: "There are three machines at that Tesco's and something like 55,000 transactions go through them every month.

"They are safe, there are security guards watching the area, there is CCTV, and they are aware there have been skimming devices there."

The spokesman accused the Oxford Mail of scaremongering, and said: "Our machines may have been targeted but you can put money on it that other machines in Oxford have also been targeted.

"What you have done is make people aware that it is a hotspot and the fraudsters will move. I think you're putting unnecessary fear and worry in the minds of customers."