A 79-YEAR-OLD woman chased a thief after he snatched her handbag.

The plucky pensioner was targeted by the thug as she walked home from her local post office in Astley Bridge. But the thief managed to outrun his victim, getting away with the bag containing £160 in cash.

The pensioner was walking along Hamilton Street at around 1.45pm on Monday when the mugger struck as she approached the ginnel between Oban Grove and Hamilton Street.

The man was white, in his early 20s, and dressed all in black, including a hooded top with the hood up.