A BRUTAL robber punched a pensioner in the stomach before robbing her, police have revealed.

Today detectives - who described the incident as a "traumatic ordeal" for the victim - were hunting the thug.

The 67-year-old woman had been to the corner shop in Church Street, Padiham, and was carrying her purse under her arm when she was approached by a man.

The robber then punched the woman and ran off with the brown leather purse which contained £60 cash and bank cards.

A witness then chased the offender into Memorial Park, but the offender got away.

Police said the victim was shocked but not seriously in the attack, which happened about 3pm on Monday.

Detective Constable Mike Harvey of Burnley CID said the robber made no effort to snatch the purse before punching the pensioner. And he appealed for any witnesses to come forward.

He said: "The lady has been checked out and physically appears to have made a recovery but she is very shocked.

"It is traumatic ordeal for a lady of that age to go through."

He added: "Church Street is a very busy road with lots of traffic and lots of people would have been around at that time maybe picking up their children from school."

The robber is described as white, 5ft 10in and very thin, with dark, unkempt hair.

He was wearing a beige T-shirt, dark jeans or tracksuit bottoms and dark shoes.

It is believed the robber could have been loitering around the area in the lead up to the attack.

Anyone with information should ring Burnley CID on 01282 472144 or Crimestoppers anonymously on 0800 555 111.