Gran foils gang

The feisty 82-year-old sat firmly in the front passenger seat, poking a bunch of keys in the face of one of the carjackers.

The car was driven off with Mrs Hughes still in the van before it was dumped a short time later in Prestwich. She was unscathed, apart from a small bruise on her forearm.

Mrs Hughes' ordeal began at 10.15pm on Wednesday (May 12) as she was being driven home from a friend's house in Prestwich by her son, John (50).

Police officers had been following a white Ford Escort van after noticing it acting suspiciously in Park Lane, Whitefield.

One of the occupants climbed out of the van and threw a wheel brace at the police vehicle, smashing the windscreen, before speeding off.

The occupants continued to throw objects out of the back of the van while the police gave chase.

When the vehicles came to stop at the junction of Bury Old Road and Langley Hall Road in Prestwich, one of the masked gang attacked the driver's side of the police van with a machete, again breaking the glass.

Mrs Hughes and her son were sitting at traffic lights in his Fiat Diablo van when the gang forced John out of the driver's seat and drove off with Mrs Hughes still in the passenger seat.

She said: "They tried to push me out of the van but I kept jabbing one of them in his face with my keys. I held on tightly and just sat there calmly."

"All I can say is that he must have been a good driver because although he was speeding and driving all over the road, he never hit anything."

The Italian grandmother-of-six added: "I have always been strong-willed and when they told me to get out of the van, I said 'no way, this is my son's van'. I had just had an operation on my toe so I couldn't have got out. I had my keys in my hand and I punched him with them. I wasn't frightened for myself. I didn't know they had a knife."

Mr Hughes, a security engineer from Herefordshire, said: "As we approached Bury Old Road, a white van screeched across the front of my van. I slammed the brakes on. A police vehicle was coming from the left flashing its lights. Four or five men, all wearing black and face masks jumped out of the van. Two came running towards my side of the van to get me out. I was thinking whether I could do something to attack the men but I thought better of it when a third man came toward me armed with a machete."

Mr Hughes was left standing in the road as the thieves sped off in his van with his mother inside and the police close behind.

The police chase stopped after one of the gang threw some tools under the wheels of their vehicle, but Mrs Hughes was later found safe in her son's van which had been abandoned in Heywood Gardens.

Added Mr Hughes: "It was an adventure for my mother but I am sure it is one neither of us would want to go on again. She is a remarkable woman and I am just glad neither she nor I was injured."

Chief Superintendent Garry Shewan, head of Bury Police, said: "I cannot over-emphasise the bravery shown by this lady who, despite being put through a terrifying ordeal remained calm and alert and has been able to assist the police. The officers did everything they could to try and bring these offenders to justice and despite being attacked and threatened they were only prevented from doing so when they were physically stopped in their tracks."

Witnesses should contact Whitefield CID on 0161 856 8248 or Crimestoppers on 0800 555 111.