Mounted police have been brought in to guard pensioners going out to bingo sessions following a spate of attacks in Bradford.

A series of muggings and handbag snatches led police to believe robbers are targeting the elderly.

The crooks are lying in wait in darkened streets around Great Horton, waiting for pensioners with handbags containing bingo winnings to walk past.

Fifteen muggings in three weeks have led to Odsal police putting on mounted patrols to guard local pensioners. Plain-clothes police officers are also flooding the area in the hope they can catch the culprits red-handed.

"These are particularly nasty crimes from cynical people who think they have found easy targets," said Sergeant Phil Foster of Odsal police.

"These are not opportunist offences. The culprits are coming to the Great Horton area with the sole purpose of committing offences. Because the victims are often elderly, their eyesight is not always that good and descriptions we have are sketchy."

In November 1997 an elderly couple on their way home from dancing at Great Horton Methodist Church were knocked down by three youths. The man, aged 86, fractured his hip when he was dragged to the floor. The couple were so shaken they have given up their dance hobby

On January 26 war veteran Stan Cahill and his wife Theresa were attacked in Southfield Lane, Little Horton, on their way home from the Royal Bingo Club in Cross Lane. Mr Cahill, 73, who has a pacemaker, gave chase but the culprit escaped

In the most recent incident last Saturday, a 55-year-old woman suffered a fractured hip after struggling with a robber in Paternoster Lane. She is still recovering in the Bradford Royal Infirmary.

Today police appealed for witnesses to the incidents, while advising elderly people to take great care and avoid dark, secluded streets and snickets.

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