A disabled woman and her pensioner friend battered a thug with a walking stick when he mugged them in the street.

Denise Emery, who suffers from chronic arthritis, hung on to her bag and was dragged along the street by the masked man.

She swiped him across the face with her metal walking stick but he refused to let go.

Miss Emery and her friend Ruth Garner, 74, were on their way home after playing bingo when the mugger grabbed Miss Emery's handbag contained £300, her monthly disability allowance.

Miss Emery, 43, was pulled along the pavement, still clasping the strap, while Mrs Garner picked up her friend's stick and chased the attacker, hitting him repeatedly on the head and back.

Miss Emery, from Hangleton, said: "We had just got off the bus at about 10pm when he asked us if we'd had a good night.

"Then he turned aggressive and said 'Give me your bag'. I said no and hit him over the head. I didn't even think about it.

"My brother-in-law does martial arts and he said, 'If you're ever attacked just hit them straight back to catch them off their guard'.

"It's not a question of being brave. It's just instinct. I cracked him along the side of the face with everything I had but he came straight back at me.

"Ruth was hitting him while I was being dragged along but he wouldn't let go of my bag. He was growling at me. He was pulling and pulling."

When Miss Emery screamed for help her attacker backed down Barnet Way in Hangleton. Mrs Garner knocked on a nearby door for help and the police were called.

Within seconds the attacker came back again so Miss Emery lay on top of her bag to stop him taking it.

She said: "He was so strong. I'm heavy. I'm 19 stone, but he pulled the bag from under me.

"I don't know how he managed to pull me along the ground. He must have been on drugs.

"All he wanted was my bag. He must have been desperate. He didn't hit me though. I can't believe I got off so lightly.

"He kept saying 'I'm sorry, I'm sorry. I didn't hurt you. I didn't hit you'."

The thug eventually made off with the bag, leaving Miss Emery stunned and shaken.

Her neck and arms were strained and her arthritis has become much worse.

Police took her walking stick for testing and Miss Emery cannot walk because her arms are too sore to lean on crutches.

She said: "After he'd gone I thought, 'Oh my God'. It was only then that I realised he could have had a knife.

"I'm really wary now. I don't think I'll get a bus home at night again. Normally I would be thinking of going for a game of bingo after Christmas but I don't want to go out at night at the moment.

"My partner, Ian Chattaway, is worried about me now and he said he'll come and meet me when I go out.

"I keep going over it in my mind. I can't get over how the man snapped from being quite friendly to being so aggressive."

She was given a donation of £100 by Hove Lions when president Mike Koscian heard about the mugging and the rest of her disability allowance is covered by insurance.

Detective Inspector Graham Pratt said: "It was a nasty attack and she was shocked and injured. We haven't recovered the bag yet."

The mugger was white, in his early 20s, stocky and wore a black coat and hat with blue jeans. The lower half of his face was covered by a scarf.

If you have any information ring police on 0845 6070999.