A female Hallowe'en blagger dressed as a witch robbed two banks in less than an hour - but failed to use her magic powers to ward off the effects of an exploding dye pack, AP reports.

The first hit came at Olympia, Washington, when a woman wearing a "shiny purple witch hat, cloak and long blond wig handed the teller a note indicating she had a weapon and demanding cash", a police spokesman later explained.

As she made good her escape - on foot we hasten to add - the purple dye pack cunningly hidden with the cash blew up and she disappeared in a puff of smoke, albeit minus the wonga and her hat.

Less than an hour later, police were alerted by a silent alarm to a second blag in neighbouring Lacey. Despite having mislaid her enchanted black headwear, the witch felt confident enough to demand that the teller give her some cash with which she legged it.

Police are looking at surveillance material to see if it was indeed the same cash-hungry witch in both robberies, as eyewitnesses suggest. ®