A POSTMAN was hailed a hero by an 81-year-old woman after he tackled a robber who had just snatched her handbag.

Former marathon runner Bernard Sutcliffe, raced to the rescue when he heard shouts behind his post van on Bury Road in Tottington. He saw a man running past him carrying a black handbag and chased him, managing to grab the bag back.

On Tuesday at Bolton Crown Court, William Lee Rawlinson (40), of Horridge Street, Bury, was jailed for 20 months after pleading guilty to robbery. The court was told that when he admitted his crime to a friend, he was beaten up.

His elderly victim, from Tottington, had been to Leemans Hill post office on the morning of September 5 when the incident happened.

She was waiting outside for a bus when she struck up a conversation with a man, who told her he was waiting for a taxi.

As she moved further to the edge of the pavement to check if her bus was coming, the man snatched the handbag from her shoulder and ran off along Bury Road.

Mr Sutcliffe (53), Broadoak Terrace, who works as a postal officer and driver for Royal Mail, chased the offender for about 100 yards and grabbed the bag back outside the Royal Hotel.

The contents, including her money, glasses and keys, spilled out, but all were retreived and safely returned.

The victim said: "I was so grateful to Mr Sutcliffe for getting my bag back. My life was in there.

"The robber could have done anything to Mr Sutcliffe. He could have had a knife. He was so brave."

Mr Sutcliffe said: "I knew I could catch him so I gave chase. I just wanted to get the bag back to the lady.

"I thought if it was my mum I would want someone to have done the same.

"When I gave it back to her she just hugged me for ages.

"She was so grateful. I was just pleased I could have helped."