AN ELDERLY war veteran risked his life to chase two thieves who ripped a handbag from his wife's grasp.

They are still too shaken from their ordeal to be identified, but agreed to speak to the Evening Advertiser to highlight the issue. Their names have been changed to protect their identities.

Margaret, an 83-year-old grandmother, spoke with tears in her eyes as she recalled the moment when she was targeted in the robbery.

"I was on my way to see my daughter in Eldene," she said. "I was tapping in the number on the door when it happened.

"I felt a tugging and then I realised that someone had taken my handbag.

"I had no idea that there was anyone there because there was absolutely no sound. I turned around and saw the two youngsters running off."

Her husband Bill, 83, who served both as a member of the parachute regiment and tank crew in Italy, Greece and North Africa during World War Two, realised what had happened.

Despite having a heart condition and needing a stick to walk, he immediately gave chase but lost them.

"I had no time to think," he said. "I didn't really think about my health. Someone had stolen my wife's handbag and I was really angry about it.

"We are both still really shaken up about it. I don't know why people do it. How would they feel if it was their grandparents who had been attacked?"

Margaret's handbag contained £70 in cash, personal medical equipment and other personal effects.