A WOMAN was ordered to hand over her car keys after being threatened by a gang of masked men with a knife as she stopped to use a cash machine on Tuesday night.

The four men confronted the terrified woman as she was getting money from the machine outside the Co-op Late Shop in Newbrook Road, Over Hulton, at 8.25pm.

The 56-year-old woman was approached by the men, all wearing balaclava masks, who demanded that she hand over the keys to her silver Merecedes estate car.

The carjacking happened five days after a gang tried to smash their way into a man's house in the same area in an attempt to get his car keys.

The woman, who lives in Lostock, was not injured during the theft of her car but was left shaken by the ordeal.

Detectives said today they could not rule out the possibility that last night's attack was linked to the attempted raid on a house in Hill Crest - only 400 yards away - last Friday.

In that incident a 56-year-old man fought off a gang of masked men after being woken by the sound of the thieves trying to force the front door of his house at 1.25am while his wife and 11-year-old son were asleep upstairs.

He ran downstairs to discover four men standing in the porch.

After being threatened with a knife and ordered to hand over the keys to two cars on the driveway, the man managed to keep the gang at bay with a dining room chair before they fled empty-handed.

Det Chief Insp George Fawcett, of Bolton CID, said: "We're looking at the possibility of the latest attack being linked to other offences which have been carried out in Bolton over the last month.

"Detectives will revisit the scene of Tuesday's attack on Wednesday to follow up a number of lines of inquiry."

Cllr Andy Morgan, who represents the Hulton ward where the two attacks took place, said that it was a worry for people in Newbrook Road.

He said: "I think it's a worry for people in general, especially elderly people and females. Our view is that the police are doing a good job but the fact is there are not enough police on the streets and we need more out there."

l Anyone with any information is asked contact CID at Astley Bridge on 0161 856 5777 or Crimestoppers anonymously on free phone 0800 555 111.