Selby shop manager Mandy Bamforth did not hesitate when she saw a thief running off with some of her stock.

As she walked back to Mackays clothes shop in New Lane after a late lunch, she heard her work colleague Jacqui Dinsley shouting: "Stop him, Mandy."

She looked up to see the thief, laden with women's tops, sprinting down the road towards a getaway car.

The have-a-go hero ran across the road and confronted him, but was thrown to the ground by the raider, injuring her left arm and leg.

Mandy, 35, refused to give up the chase. She got up and ran after her attacker, who managed to escape after jumping into the getaway car.

"I refuse to be a victim. I suppose looking back at it I shouldn't have tackled him, but it was just instinct," said Mandy, who lives in Barlby.

"I didn't think about myself - all I could think about was that someone had stolen some of our stock.

"Afterwards, I was aching everywhere, with some bruising to my arm and leg, but I would do the same again."

Mandy said that shoppers who saw the incident had been "lovely" and tried to take down the getaway car's registration number.

She said: "They thought I was being mugged and asked if I was OK."

The thief escaped with about ten "rugby" tops, with collars.

PC George Beattie said that Mandy was "knocked clean off her feet".

He said: "The violence was appalling and unnecessary.

"She was very brave, but we don't recommend members of the public coming into physical contact with offenders."

The thief is described as 5ft 8in tall, with dark, cropped hair. He was wearing dark trousers and a dark padded jacket.

Police said there were apparently two female accomplices in the dark blue getaway car - probably a Ford Escort.

One of them was sitting in the front of the car and the second woman, sitting in the back, had blonde hair in a pony tail.

Anyone with information should contact Selby Police on a new witness line, 01904 669884.

Updated: 14:10 Thursday, December 18, 2003