A WOMAN was threatened and punched as she sat inside a car.

The 46-year-old victim was waiting for her partner to arrive in Castle Hill Road, Prestwich, when a thief approached the vehicle.

He opened the door, grabbed the woman by the collar and shouted abuse at her. The robber demanded the woman hand over her satchel bag and then punched her in the face.

He then grabbed the bag and walked off towards Bury Old Road at around 8pm on Wednesday January 7.

A Prestwich police spokesman said: “This ordeal has left the woman very badly shaken and she has sustained cuts and bruises to her face.

“This happened near a busy stretch of Bury Old Road at a time when a few people would have been out and about so we would appeal for witnesses or anyone with information to call us on 101.”

The man was described as white, aged in his 20s, short, of a slim build and spoke with a Mancunian accent.

He was wearing a dark hooded top with a black scarf wrapped around the lower part of his face.