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The gang, including children as young as 12, confronted the woman after she stepped off a tram and was walking home at 7.30 in the evening.

They demanded cigarettes but when she refused members of the gang ran up behind her and tried to grab her bag from her shoulder dragging her into the traffic.

Vehicles had to swerve to avoid hitting the woman but nobody stopped.
She managed to hang on to her property and the thugs gave up and ran away.

The station is a haunt for teenage gangs who hang around the entrance to the station at night and during the weekends. Not a single pane of glass remains in the frontage due to vandalism.

Police have been called a number of times to disperse gangs who intimidate passengers entering and leaving the station.

Platforms at the station are monitored by CCTV but an enclosed bridge linking the Manchester and Bury bound platforms and the entrance to the station are not protected by cameras.