AN 86-YEAR-OLD lady has described how she was left for dead on a Plymouth pavement after being robbed by a thug on her way to church.

The terrified pensioner, from St Budeaux, was left bloodied and bruised, lying face-down on the floor after the attacker struck from behind, snatching her bag.

Now, she told The Herald, she feels too afraid to use public transport – or even leave her house alone.

The grandmother, who is too shaken to reveal her identity, was rushed to hospital needing stitches to her lip after smashing her face against the concrete in the daylight attack. She also suffered two black eyes, a bruised chin, damaged teeth, a grazed leg and bruising to her chest and arms.

Her face is still so swollen doctors cannot yet tell if her nose is broken.

The elderly lady said: "I'm 87 in two weeks – I keep asking myself, 'Why did he pick on me?'

"Whoever he is, he's a nasty piece of work. It was an opportunistic moment for him to do his dirty deed.

"I do hope he gets caught. It doesn't leave my mind now, I can't concentrate on anything."

The man struck at around 2pm on Friday as she walked along Crownhill Road from Budshead Road, having got off First's number 13 bus a stop too late. She was on her way to a regular meeting group in the hall at St Budeaux Church, next to the former Blue Monkey pub, when he grabbed her shopping bag from behind, sending her plunging towards the pavement.

He made off with the blue shopping bag, containing her handbag, purse, cards, cash, house keys and an umbrella. Her glasses, bought three days earlier for £179, were also broken in the robbery.

The lady, whose Dockyard-worker husband died four years ago, said: "He came from nowhere and I went flat on my face. I lay there and I thought, 'I've got to get myself up' – but there was nobody about."

After a few minutes, she manoeuvred herself onto her back, then sat up and eventually stumbled to the church hall, where shocked friends dialled 999.

Although she could not get a good look at the attacker, the figure she saw running away looked tall and slim, she added. Detectives last night pleaded for witnesses to come forward, branding the attack "outrageous" and "beyond belief".

Anyone with information should call police on 08452 777444 or Crimestoppers anonymously on 0800 555111 quoting crime reference EL/10/594.