WANSTEAD residents are demanding CCTV and more policing after an elderly woman was attacked at gunpoint outside a closed police station.
The 75-year-old became yet another victim of crime in an area which the Home Office has said doesn't have enough crime to deserve CCTV.
Her terror unfolded when she was dragged along the ground by the armed robber as she struggled to hold on to her handbag in Chaucer Road, just after midday on Saturday, November 25.
The attacker jumped out of a white Transit van, which police say was stolen, and grabbed the bag, which contained just £15.
But the brave pensioner refused to let go, even when she saw that he was carrying a gun. Despite her struggle, the man prised it from her and escaped in the van, driven by another person.
When the distressed woman went to report the robbery at the police station she found that it was closed. She was later taken to Whipps Cross with an injured hand.
DC Tom Hassell, leading the investigation, said: "The man had the gun in his hand, he did not say or do anything with it. The woman was shaken up. It happened close to the police station and she wasn't overjoyed that the station was shut."
Wanstead police station is closed at weekends and opens from Monday to Friday between 10am and 6pm.
The woman's angry daughter spoke out about the lack of full-time policing in the area at an area committee meeting in Wanstead on Monday.
She said: "With no high-visibility policing, criminals are coming from miles around into Wanstead and we have no protection, especially with the station being closed most of the time. We need more policing in Wanstead, otherwise we are going to suffer more."
Her concerns were echoed by residents who are more fearful than ever that criminals see Wanstead as an easy target.
Superintendent Ian Southcott, from Ilford police station, believes that increased police visibility would not make the criminals go away.
He said: "Crime against an elderly person is distressing. If the station was open it would only deter criminals from the immediate vicinity. It would not necessarily deter them from the wider area.
"Criminals move around. They are not specifically coming from elsewhere. Wanstead is still a safe area."
The robber was black, aged 25, 6ft tall and of medium build. He wore a dark beige jacket, and dark trousers and shoes.
Information to Ilford police on 8553 2336.
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