A 76-YEAR-OLD woman says she is still reeling from the shock of having her purse snatched from her in the street by a child.

Now the distraught pensioner is warning others to be on their guard after the disturbing incident in Frodsham.

Dilys O’Neill had been to the shop in Langdale Way and was cycling home along Fluin Lane, towards the main road junction, around 8pm when she said she was passed by a woman with a group of children walking on the pavement in the opposite direction.

Moments later, she said she “sensed someone running up behind me.”

Dilys explained: “I thought someone was about to knock me off my bike, so I stopped and when I managed to look around I saw a flash of this little boy – he was only about seven to 10 years old. Then I realised my purse was missing from the basket on the back of my bike.”

“By then there was no sign of the woman and children and it happened so fast that I didn’t see where the lad had disappeared to.”

The stolen purse contained about £20 in notes and coins, as well as Dilys’s Visa card and her bus and train passes.

Dilys said she recognised the woman. She added: “I’d seen her around but didn’t know her name or where she lived but, strangely enough, I noticed her on the street the next day and approached her.

“I asked her ‘Where’s my purse?’ but she said she didn’t know what I was talking about.

“Anyway, after asking around, I managed to find out her name and address and passed this on to the police.”

Police said this week they were still investigating the incident.