The two men confronted the 86-year-old woman after sneaking in through the unlocked back door.

As she screamed one man grabbed her wrists and pushed her to the floor.

Yesterday, one of the woman's friends said: "I am so angry that this can happen to such a defenceless old woman.

"She is too scared to even open her door now."

The woman, who lives alone in a house on the Longridge estate, has Parkinson's disease.

"She has got bruises on her wrists and shoulders but she is also suffering from severe shock," said her friend. "Some

pensioners become very ill after this sort of ordeal."

The daughter of the mugged woman is now considering moving her mother closer to her home in Northwich.

Her friend, who is a community worker, said she was appalled at the recent rise in crimes against elderly women in Knutsford.

"I intend to talk to the police and the community about this." she said. "I want old people to feel safe in their own beds."

The two men fled from the woman's home with a handbag, containing £300 in cash, a pair of glasses and her pension book.

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