OAP swings at thieves

A British pensioner attacked a gang of thieves with her handbag when they tried to break into a jewellers.

The unnamed woman saw six hammer-wielding young men making their way into the store and hit them repeatedly before they tried to escape on their scooters.

However, one unlucky criminal was sent crashing down to the ground by the woman- and held there by passers-by until police arrived.

She said: "He raised a hammer to me so I just kept hitting out and shouting and shouting for others to help and bring them down. I'm not a hero and it was maybe foolish of me to get involved but somebody had to do something.