POLICE believe there may be a link between two bag-snatching incidents which happened within about an hour of each other in the Clinkham Wood/Moss Bank area.

The first occured at about 9am on Wednesday, June 7. A 71-year old woman was making her way home along Kendal Drive after visiting the nearby Clinkham Wood post office in Wythburn Crescent to collect her pension, when she was approached by a tall, slim man in his early 20s. The man pulled his light-coloured top over his face and as the woman walked past him he snatched her bag and ran off. Two nearby workmen witnessed the theft and gave chase but the thief got away.

The second incident happened at about 10.05am the same day in Moss Bank Road. A 59-year-old woman was returning from visiting the same post office when a man ran up behind her and tried to pull her bag from her shoulder.

However, the woman struggled and the man eventually left empty-handed, running off over a field off Moss Bank Road. She could only describe him as white and in his late teens.

Police are urging people who visit the post office to be on their guard and, if possible, take someone with them.

Anyone with information on either incident, can contact DC Bev Burgess on 0151 777 6064 or Crimestoppers on 0800 555 111.