A 19-year-old woman who was mugged outside her flat has appealed for the return of valuable course work stolen from her.

The incident occurred at about 11pm last Wednesday when Carla Mallett, a beauty therapy student at Leeds College, returned to her flat in Little Horton.

She had been at her family home at Drighlington helping her younger sister prepare for her prom. As she arrived at her flat a man stole her bag, containing her course work, along with her purse.

Her mother Sharon Mallett said her daughter was distraught.

She said: "She is so upset. She was coming home from doing a good turn for her sister, helping her fix her make-up and hair for the prom when it happened.

"The attack was obviously very upsetting but the most upsetting thing is the loss of her college book."

Describing what had happened, Carla said: "I was just going into the door of my block of flats when this man shoved me and grabbed my bag.

"The bag had all my coursework in it. I am doing an NVQ Level 3 in Body Therapy and all my books were in the bag. The most important thing is my course record book. It has all the dates of the assignments I've done and proof that I passed them.

"I'm really worried I might have to re-sit the year without it. I'm really upset and keep bursting into tears. I'm so worried that it's lost."

Anyone with information about the missing course work should contact West Yorkshire police on 0845 6060606.