A YOUNG female thief grappled with a pensioner and tried to wrestle her bag from her in Blackpool town centre this week -- and police have appealed for the VICTIM to come forward.

The thief -- a woman in her early 20s -- attempted to rob the pensioner's handbag by pulling her to the ground on Church Street near to the Winter Gardens at 4pm on Monday.

The thief grappled with her but the pensioner held on to her handbag and eventually the thief ran off into the Winter Gardens.

She was gaunt in appearance and wore a black woolly hat with a red motif and had shoulder length blondish hair.

But police want the pensioner to contact them to help them trace the thief. They believe that she got onto a bus prior to officers arriving at the scene and appealed for her to contact them on 293933.