A car containing a gang of bag-snatchers dragged a “brave” woman 20ft across a Keighley supermarket car park as she tried in vain to stop the theft.

The 42-year-old woman had just returned to her car at Morrisons, in Worth Way, Keighley, when a red Ford Fiesta drew up alongside her.

A man got out of the R-registered car, asked her for directions and then grabbed her handbag and threw it through the open window of the car to the other passenger.

As the vehicle sped off, the woman reached through the window and grabbed the bag but was dragged for 20ft before finally having to let go.

The victim, from the Keighley area, was taken to hospital with minor injuries, including bruising and grazing.

Just minutes later, police received reports of a similar incident in Coney Lane, Keighley, where a 36-year-old woman had been walking along the pavement when a car matching the same description pulled up alongside.

A man leaned out of the window and asked for directions to Morrisons, then grabbed her handbag.

The woman, also from the Keighley area, managed to hold on to her bag as the vehicle drove off.

After the incident, a very tall man, aged in his 40s, came to assist the woman.

Detectives are keen to speak to that man because they believe he may have seen the incident.

Det Insp Mark Long, of Airedale and North Bradford CID, said: “These are both deemed very serious incidents, albeit isolated.

“We have got two serious robberies within a very short period of time, which concerns me.”

Det Insp Long said both women had been “very brave” in attempting to hang on to their bags, one successfully and one unsuccessfully.

“The car had three occupants, comprising two males and a female.”

The driver was described as a white man aged in his 20s, gaunt-looking with dark eyebrows, about 5ft 5in tall, slim, speaking with a local accent and wearing a short red jacket and baseball cap.

The front seat passenger was a white female, skinny, gaunt, in her late teens or early 20s, of average height, with light coloured hair tied back and wearing a light brown jacket.

The rear-seat passenger was a white man, aged in his mid-20s, thin, scruffy, unshaven and wearing a black dark-coloured top with a blue baseball cap.

Both incidents happened at about 6pm on Saturday.

Anyone with information should call the local CID on 0845 6060606.