AN 80-year-old woman was picked up and shaken by a hooded robber who took her handbag.

The pensioner, recovering from a stroke, was badly shocked after the attack outside Chester-le-Street railway station, County Durham.

Police suspect that it could be linked to two similar muggings in the town earlier this year.

The woman tried to hang on to her bag, which contained £40, when she was attacked at 1.30pm on Sunday.

After a brief struggle, in which she was dragged to the ground, the robber managed to grab the handbag.

Detective Constable Michael Watson, of Chester-le-Street CID, said: "The victim was singled out because her cowardly attacker believed she was an easy target."

The man is described as being in his late teens or early 20s, 6ft, and of an untidy appearance.

He had a slim face, sallow complexion, short, dark hair, and was wearing a dark blue hooded top.

l Four women were mugged in Washington and Houghton-le-Spring, Wearside, on Tuesday.

Detective Inspector Gavin Hedley, of Washington CID, said there has been more than 20 similar incidents since last February.

The first victim was a 55-year-old woman who had her handbag snatched by a spiky- haired man, aged 17 to 23, at 9.30am, in Richmond Avenue, Washington village.

The second victim was a 28-year-old woman, mugged as she entered her home in Garden Street, Newbottle, near Houghton-le-Spring, at 1.15pm.

The next was in the car park at Savacentre, in The Galleries, Washington, when two men driving a stolen blue Ford Escort snatched the handbag of a 43-year-old woman, at about 5.20pm.

The last was at 5.45pm, at Macro Wear Industrial Estate, Washington, when the same pair snatched a 53-year-old woman's bag.