A WORKER was dragged from her car and hit across the legs with a wrench during a carjacking in the grounds of Fairfield Hospital.

The armed robber struck at 8.15am on Friday as the 40-year-old hospital employee sat in her Honda Civic saloon.

Police said a man wearing a balaclava mask ran up to the vehicle in the hospital car park and ordered her out.

When she refused, he opened the door and pulled her out before hitting her left shin with the wrench.

The raider fled with the car and he was followed by an accomplice in a blue Ford Sierra which was later found abandoned in Devon Street, Bury. The silver Honda, registered ML03 LLA, is still missing.

The attacker was described as male, 6ft, slim to medium build, and wore a long dark jacket, a fleece top, and spoke with a local accent. The other man is said to be white, aged in his mid 20s, with short curly light brown or ginger hair.

A spokesman for the Pennine Acute Hospital's NHS Trust said: "The trust is working closely with the police to investigate the incident at Fairfield General Hospital involving a member of staff who was treated in the accident and emergency department and is now recovering at home.

"The number of security guards at Fairfield Hospital was increased earlier in the year, and the trust is currently reviewing all security measures across the site. This review will be completed by the end of this month."