AN elderly lady was last night in a serious condition in hospital after being assaulted by two youths.

The 81-year-old pensioner was walking to the post office in Whalley Banks, Blackburn when she stopped to put her hood up and put her bag down on the floor.

She was then approached by two youths who knocked her to the floor.

The woman suffered a fractured femur in the fall, and was taken to hospital when she had to undergo an operation.

A police spokeswoman said the lady’s condition was serious, and the injuries could be life-threatening.

The woman’s bag was not stolen by the youths, but it is unclear yet whether anything was taken from it.

Two passers-by helped the lady into nearby Premier Flooring & Furniture, where the owner, Amjad Rafiq, called an ambulance.

Mr Rafiq, 36, said: “She was struggling to stand up, so I just gave her a chair to sit down, called her husband, and called the ambulance.

“I helped her as much as I could. She was 81, so she wasn’t exactly young, and she said she’d had an operation on her knee, so was trying to protect that, but ended up with an injury on the other side.

“It’s wrong, an old lady was just walking along, doing her own thing, there’s no words to describe it to be honest.

“We don’t normally have trouble like this here, it’s not nice.”

The police spokeswoman said: “We want to track down the people who helped the lady into the shop, or anybody else that saw it, it’s quite a busy area.”

The incident happened at around noon on Thursday and the offenders were described as two males, one Asian, and the other white.

Anyone with information can contact police on 101 or r call Crimestoppers anonymously on 0800 555 111.