An elderly woman was stranded when police refused to lend her 20p for her bus fare home, after her bag was snatched in Keighley.

Doris Richards, 77, of North Street, Haworth, said she got more support and advice from a young woman who was also at the police station than she did from the police.

Mrs Richards, who suffers from a crippling arthritic disease and diabetes, had just paid for her shopping when her bag was snatched in the Co-op's Food Emporium last Friday.

She gathered her bags and reported the theft to the police station at about 2pm.

"I was in shock and I suffer from a joint illness which gives me a lot of pain.

"When I got to the police station I had to wait about an hour to be seen by a police officer. It wasn't overly busy in there but I was just left waiting," she said.

"Finally, a policewoman did come and see me and I explained to her that I just needed 20p to get the bus back home.

"She just said 'I'm sorry but we don't do that sort of thing' and that there was nothing she could do to help me."

Mrs Richards said that a young woman who had overheard the conversation in the police station offered her £2 and advised her to go to social services.

"I want to thank that young woman, she gave me more help than the police. I took a pound and headed to social services."

On arriving at the benefits office in Worth Way to report her pension book as stolen, Mrs Richards, pictured, was given a cup of tea and a cereal bar, and waited two hours for a crisis loan of £5 before she could get home.

Mrs Richards's daughter, Joan Hammond, said: "So much for the caring policeman in the community image that the force likes to portray.

"I am appalled and disgusted that red tape is stretched to the point of 20p.

"My mother needed support during this awful event that caused her a lot of inconvenience and Keighley police added to her stress that day."

The two women who snatched the bag, put her purse in a post box in Leeds and it was posted back to her. Personal items and a bit of money were missing but her keys and pension book were there.

Det Chief Insp Christopher Moorehouse said: "I am sorry about what happened to Mrs Richards. I have looked into the matter and identified a training issue.

"Under normal circumstances a person in such a predicament would be offered a small cash advance, a travel pass or better still, a ride home."

A spokesman for the Department for Work and Pensions said: "Mrs Richards was obviously traumatised so there were some complexities in making the appropriate security checks.

"She was given a cup of tea and something to eat and while the processing took longer than we hoped, she was well looked after."