A 82-YEAR-OLD woman from Bury was left lying on the pavement after a gang of three men stole her handbag.

The pensioner was walking along George Street North in Higher Broughton, Salford, near to the junction with New Road when she was attacked.

Three men walked behind her and one of them pulled her arm with such force that she fell to the ground.

He then grabbed her bag which contained a quantity of cash and wrenched it from her hand.

The three men left the woman lying on the ground and ran off towards Tetlow Lane.

An hour later, the emptied black leather handbag was found on Oakhill Way.

The incident happened at around 10.45am on Saturday, June 7.

Det Con Andy Mulholland of Salford CID said: "Although the woman was not seriously injured, she did receive a one inch gash over her right eye along with bruising and swelling where her head hit the floor.

"She also grazed both knees and suffered bruising to her right arm and shoulder.

"This was an extremely frightening ordeal for an elderly woman who was walking out and about in broad daylight.

"I believe that someone must have seen what happened to this woman."

The elderly woman has described the man who pulled her to the ground as being white, around 16 years, of medium build and approximately 5ft 4ins tall. He was wearing a navy blue baseball cap, a plain blue tracksuit top that was fully zipped up and loose fitting navy blue tracksuit bottoms.

The two men that he was with were also white, approximately 5ft 10ins, of medium build. Both wore navy blue baseball caps and dark clothing.

Anyone with information is asked to contact the Robbery Unit on 0161 856 5018 or Crimestoppers on 0800 555 111.