A SENIOR doctor from Bury was beaten up and throttled by car thieves in the grounds of the hospital where she works.

Dr Nidhi Tripathi says she feels "let down" and "shattered" after onlookers failed to help during her five-minute ordeal in a car park at North Manchester General Hospital, Crumpsall.

The 42-year-old senior registrar, of Bolton Road, Bury, was treated for a fractured wrist and foot, damage to her throat hyoid bone and a torn facial muscle. Her black W-registration Honda Integra sports car, stolen by her attackers, has not yet been recovered by police.

Dr Tripathi had been returning to her car after finishing a shift at 8.30pm last Tuesday (Feb 25). She was approached by a gang of four men, one wearing a security jacket, who had been sitting in a car. The men forced her to the ground behind another vehicle, where they covered their faces and began to punch and throttle her.

Dr Tripathi said: "It was horrendous, they were pressing my neck so hard and hitting me.

"My face was covered with blood and I was screaming all the time for someone to call security. Even when they had the keys, they continued to beat me up. There were two men standing there who saw it all, but didn't do anything."

The attackers, who were all white and aged 18 to 20, made off when a female passer-by intervened.

Dr Tripathi, who has worked as an obstetrician at the hospital for the past 18 months, is critical of security arrangements and support from hospital management.

She said: "The car park lighting is poor and I believe that four men sitting outside an antenatal clinic should have been asked why they were there. My colleagues are now frightened to use the car park and understand how mentally and physically shattered I am, but the trust have given me no support apart from a taxi home."

Hospital site director Stephen Farey said: "One of the lights in that area was out at the time, but this has now been rectified. We have pretty regular patrols but our problem is that we have 27 car parks, so to have someone present all the time can be a problem. We do have an escort service where security staff will accompany to their car if requested."

However, he admitted that Dr Tripathi should also have been contacted by a senior representative of the Pennine Acute Hospitals NHS Trust.