A FEARLESS pensioner and her disabled daughter confronted a gang who ram raided a petrol station with a stolen 4X4.

Alex Graham and her 68-year-old mother Carol Graham challenged the gang of four men who targeted the Gulf filling station in Farnworth at 1.30am on Monday.

The pair were woken by a loud bang and saw the raiders had used a silver Mitsubishi, stolen in Darcy Lever, to smash a hole in the front of the garage, which is at the junction of Harrowby Street and Heaton Avenue.

The gang — which police believe may also be responsible for a raid in Salford earlier the same night — caused thousands of pounds worth of damage as they attempted to steal money from the petrol station's cash machine.

Miss Graham, a mother-of-two, is on full-time disability leave due to a back condition and her mother Mrs Graham, who has four children, is retired.

The brave duo rushed out of their home in Harrowby Street and shouted at the raiders to stop while phoning police and providing descriptions of the men.

Miss Graham, aged 41, said: “With something like that you do not think or let fear stop you — we just went out and confronted them.

“I said to them ‘you should not be going in there’ and they were effing and jeffing, telling me to get back in the house.

“The people who run that garage are our friends — we have known them for years.

“I was frustrated and angry but not frightened — I was just so angry at the audacity of it.

“If anything happens on our street we go out and deal with it — if it is not me, it is my mum. We hope if it was us who were in trouble other people would do the same.”

After the raid the gang ran away on foot down Heaton Avenue, turning right onto Reed Close.

Seconds later two of the men sped past in a dark-coloured saloon car from Reed Close towards St Germain Street.

The other two men are believed to have run off in the direction of New Bury.

Other neighbours also came out of their homes to confront the raiders, who are believed to have been unarmed.

One resident chased them down Heaton Avenue, but could not catch them.

Mother-of-four Mrs Graham, who is also a grandmother and great-grandmother, said: “They did not have any weapons but were just confronting us and trying intimidation tactics.

“I was not scared, I was more angry than anything. They just have no respect for anybody. We look after our own round here.”

The gang’s lookout was described as 6ft 1in tall, of a slim build and aged 18 or 19. He was wearing dark clothing with a hood up and had a black and white bandana across his face.

The other men were described as in their early to mid-twenties and all wearing dark trousers. One had a high visibility vest on, one was wearing a grey top and one was completely in black.

They all had local accents. There were CCTV cameras in place inside the garage and police are investigating the footage.

The men escaped empty handed.

The owner of the petrol station, who asked not to be named, said the attack had caused thousands of pounds worth of damage.

He said: “Alex and Carol are my local heroes.

“It is very depressing. I have never had anything like this happen before.

“I have been told there is a possibility the building could be condemned because there could be serious structural damage.

“The gang were definitely targeting the cash machine on the wall. They knew where it was, so they must have been inside the garage before.”

IPH Motors, a mechanic business attached to the petrol station, was also damaged in the raid.

Police believe the 4X4 used in the raid was stolen after 5pm on Friday, August 7, from a service station in Hacken Lane, Darcy Lever.

Det Sgt Tony Lunt, from the Bolton division, said: “The offenders used a Mitsubishi Shogun to smash the shop wall multiple times but they did not manage to steal anything.

“It is fortunate no one was outside the shop when the 4X4 rammed it, as the consequences could have been severe.

“I would urge anybody who saw a silver Shogun in the Farnworth area at that time, or saw four men fleeing the scene, to contact police immediately.”

Anyone with information should call police on 101 or 0161 856 5608, or Crimestoppers anonymously on 0800 555 111.