A good deed by kind-hearted pensioner Maria Holmes ended in agony when she was mugged of her holiday savings.

Maria, 66, was on her way to visit two poorly friends when the thief attacked.

He was waiting in hiding outside a block of flats in Park Grove Court, Frizing-hall, and pounced on her from behind.

The mugger tried to wrench a handbag from her shoulder but she desperately clung on and struggled with him for two minutes before the strap snapped and the thief fled with her bag.

Widow Mrs Holmes, of Fairweather Green, was left badly shaken and with a bruised arm, but she did not need medical treatment.

The thief got away with her mobile phone, bank cards and £150 she had been saving for a holiday at the seaside.

Mrs Holmes, who has a son, daughter and five grandchildren, said: "I was walking to the flats when all of a sudden this fellow was pulling me from the back.

"He appeared from nowhere, I think he must have been hiding behind some dustbins.

"He was tugging at my bag and I was trying to hang on to it and screaming for help.

"After a couple of minutes the handle of my bag broke and he ran off with it. Somebody chased after him but he couldn't catch him.

"I was really terrified and I feel sad inside now.

"I was on my way to see a couple of good friends at the flats who are in poor health. I go to see them a couple of times a week.

"I was just doing a good turn for somebody when this happens to me.

"I had £150 in the bag which I had been saving for a holiday with a friend in Great Yarmouth. I hadn't been there before and I was looking forward to it.

"I was going to pay the money to my friend that day.

"I can't replace it. Now I will have to ask my son or daughter to pay it for me."

Police have warned women carrying money to be especially vigilant if they are out walking.

Mrs Holmes, a retired auxiliary nurse, said the law was not tough enough in dealing with criminals.

She said: "They need to be taught a lesson and put away, but nobody wants to do anything about it.

"I feel very angry about what happened.

"I'm sure this man needed the money to buy drugs. The more money they get, the more drugs they take.

"He should get a job and go to work instead of taking money from people like me who worked all their lives.

"How many lives are they going to ruin as well as their own."

The thief was white, in his early 20s, 6ft tall, with brown shortish hair.

He was wearing a grey jacket and was of scruffy appearance.