A MAN was hit on the side of the face and knocked to the ground in a deserted alley before being robbed of £50.

The incident happened at around 4pm on Tuesday, July 6, in Derby Street, Preston.

Police are looking for a man of mixed race in connection with the incident. He was in his early thirties, 5ft 8ins tall and slim, with short tight curly black hair and wearing a dark Adidas tracksuit.

A 12-year-old boy was attacked by two older youths as he walked across the Pine Village shop car park in Station Road, Bamber Bridge, at around 8.30am on Thursday, July 1.

One held him down while the other raided his pockets. Both attackers were white and aged about 17. One was wearing a red Reebok baseball cap, and a Manchester City blue Adidas tracksuit. The other was wearing a black and red baseball cap, a black tracksuit top, blue denim jeans and white trainers. He was wearing a gold ring and has a tattoo on his wrist.

A man snatched £20 from a 61-year-old woman's hand as she stood in the doorway to a block of flats in Barn Croft, Leyland, at around 2.45pm on Monday, July 5.

The thief, who was white, aged 25-28, around 5ft 10ins, thin, with mousy shaved hair, ran off towards Dunkirk Lane. He was wearing jeans and a grey T-shirt with horizontal pale blue stripes.

A young mum had her handbag snatched as she pushed her 10-week-old baby in a pram close to the junction of Geoffrey Street and Cemetery Road at around 9.30am on Tuesday July 6.

The thief - a white man aged about 25 - grabbed her arm before stealing the bag, which contained £86, a driving licence, milk tokens, and a bank card. He is around 6ft 2ins, of slim build, with mousy blond hair, a 'dirty' face and dots tattooed on his left hand. He was wearing a blue padded bomber jacket, white jeans and dirty white trainers.

Two thieves went to a farm in Potters Lane, Samlesbury, at around 2pm on Wednesday, July 7, saying they were looking for work - but stole an orange £400 Stihl FS 106 petrol strimmer, serial number 26894408.

They are both white men in their early to mid-twenties. One is 5ft 6ins, slim, with dark short hair. He was wearing a white long-sleeve sweatshirt and blue tracksuit bottoms.

Two young women stole clothing - including sleeveless Kangol polo shirts worth £120 - from Debenhams, in the Fishergate Centre, at around 1.40pm on Thursday, July 8.

Both are white and aged 18-20. One had collar-length dark hair. Her accomplice is 5ft 6ins tall, thin, with a spotty complexion and dirty blonde hair.

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