AN Albury grandmother has been left “frightened” and “disgusted” after youths snatched her handbag while she was shopping with her grandchildren on Saturday.

But the grab-and-go didn’t work out as planned for one of the young thieves, who was struck by a car during his getaway on Griffith Road, Lavington.

The victim, who wished to remain anonymous, was sitting on a seat between Flight Centre and Wendys at Lavington Square just after 9am.

She said her husband had gone into Big W, leaving her with her granddaughters aged two and four.

“I had a little bag of toys on the seat, and next to that was my handbag, my granddaughter, who is four, was leaning on the handbag,” she said.

“All of a sudden these two youths just ran past and snatched the bag, it was so unbelievable.

“If my granddaughter had her hand in the bag they would have dragged her as well.”

“I screamed out for someone to help and two men chased them outside and that’s when the young man ran into a car and dropped the bag,” she said.

A witness driving past as the thieves fled caught footage of four youths, no older than 16, on her dash cam running towards KFC.

“The kid with the bag was hit by a white car, bounced and flung into a parked truck, then hit the ground,” witness Nicole said.

“It was a hard impact, and God knows how, but he got up and kept running.

“He lost the bag and when he picked it up by the bottom it was upside down so everything in it was strewn all across the road and he ran off.

The victim said her main concern was the children who were left shaken after the incident.

“It was just so brazen with children there,” she said.

“It frightened our grandkids — all they could talk about was the bad men who took nanna’s bag.”

“I think he would need medical attention, if someone doesn’t notice their kid with cuts and bruises something is wrong.”

The victim of the theft said she wanted to thank two men who chased the thieves and all the people who assisted her and her granddaughters.

With Christmas approaching, she said she wanted to warn other shoppers to be mindful of thieves.

Albury Chief Inspector Kim Sorensen said police were yet to release a description of the offenders. 

“It doesn’t happen often but it does from time to time,” he said.

“People should be aware of their surroundings.”