A VIOLENT robber was today still at large, despite a large-scale police operation to catch him.

Although there were no more robberies in Audley, detectives said there had also been no new developments in the hunt for the attacker, who struck twice in two days this week.

But officers were continuing to advise elderly women in the area not to go out alone, to avoid alleyways and not to carry cash.

On Wednesday at 9.15am, a 71-year-old women was pushed to the floor from behind moments after she left St Joseph's RC Church, off Audley Range, where she had lit two candles for her poorly daughter.

The robber fled with her handbag, containing £15. She was left on the floor in the alleyway at the side of the church with two black eyes, cuts and bruises and broken dentures.

On Thursday at 10.15am, a woman in her 80s was pushed over from behind in a walkway between Mulberry Street and Longton Close, Audley.

She attempted to hang on to her bag, but her purse, containing about £70, fell out in the struggle.

The robber picked it up and fled. Both victims said the robber was a white teenager, in his late teens and wearing a baseball cap. The second woman also believed he was of a slim build and was wearing a cream top with blue sleeves.