A 52-YEAR-OLD Bury woman was forced to hand over her handbag after being confronted by a knife-wielding thug.

The thief approached the woman as she was walking along the town's Haslam Street on Wednesday and demanded she hand over the bag before running off.

The thief is aged 16-18, medium build, 5ft 6ins tall, wearing a black balaclava, black sunglasses, red and white check scarf, black anorak, black jeans and black gloves.