A mum-of-two today told how she outwitted an armed car-jacker with an 'emergency escape plan'.

Yvette Hill, pictured, discussed her plan to escape any car-jack with husband Alan just two days before she was targeted in a terrifying attack on her way to work.

Mrs Hill was cut on her right arm and leg during the attack in Tong Street, Bradford, yesterday but said: "I just think I am lucky to have got away at all."

And she said her forward thinking may have saved her from serious injury.

"We had seen that this was happening more and more in Bradford and decided to draw up plans just in case. I said that I would throw away the keys and run as fast as I could."

She said: "It was still fresh in my mind and when I realised what was happening, I decided 'I am going to do this'. Luckily for me, it worked."

Mrs Hill, 35, was driving to Speedibake, where she works as technical foreman, at around 6.10am yesterday.

She said: "I usually get a lift in, but my dog had been barking that night and I had slept through."

As she reached the junction of Tong Street and Moorcroft Drive, her mobile phone slipped across the dashboard of the Land Rover Discovery so she stopped to retrieve it.

"As I got it I saw a man standing at the driver's side shouting something like 'Give me the keys'."

Mrs Hill leant over to get her handbag and coat as the attacker opened her door.

"He began grabbing me and pulling me out. Because my coat was obstructing his view, I was able to get the keys out of the ignition."

Although she didn't see it, Mrs Hill said she was cut with some sort of weapon during the struggle and suffered wounds to her right leg and arm.

"Once I was out, there was a bit of room between us. I turned and threw the keys as hard as I could. I didn't see where they went, I just run as fast as I could."

She added: "I didn't look back once. I was scared that I might trip over because my adrenaline was pumping so hard."

Startled by her actions, the car-jacker fled empty-handed.

Mrs Hill made it home where she woke her husband. Mr Hill, 42, said: "She was screaming hysterically and wasn't even able to speak. It was absolutely terrible."

The police rushed to the scene, and although the robber had gone, they recovered the keys and the P-registered vehicle.

Mr Hill, a plumbing and heating engineer, said: "I think she was very smart to have done what she did. She was under so much pressure and kept her cool. I am really proud of her."

But Mrs Hill said: "I cannot drive now and I don't know how long it will be until I can face it. I think I would be sick if I got into the car."

She added: "This person needs to be caught. He could do it to someone else and they might not be as lucky. I have two children, aged ten and 12 - what if they were in the car?

"When it happened, I just remembered how hard I worked to buy this car and I wasn't about to hand it over."

Detective Constable David Pullford, who is leading the investigation, said the man may have been lying in wait for a suitable target car but added it was not being directly linked to a series of car-jackings in the city.

The attacker was described as Asian or mixed race, aged between 20 and 22 and between 5ft 6ins and 5ft 8ins tall. He wore a navy blue or black jogging top with the hood pulled up with pockets at the waist.

Anyone with information should contact DC Pullford on (01274) 376489.

Meanwhile, police today launched a series of raids in the hunt for car thieves, robbers and trouble-makers - including three teenage boys.

Some 25 officers swooped on homes in Holme Wood and Bradford city centre in the hunt for suspects.

The raids were part of the police's Target Initiative, which aims to target habitual criminals and launch high visibility patrols to reassure the public.

Among those being sought today was a woman wanted for assault and drugs offences and three 15-year-olds wanted for questioning over persistent anti-social behaviour.

Sergeant Keith Dobson, of Bradford South police, said the Target Initiative worked in two ways.

"It is an arrest programme for criminal involvement such as robbery, vehicle crime and crimes of violence. We are also running a public reassurance operation."