A GRANDFATHER and his three-year-old grandson are recovering after being threatened by an armed gang who

hi-jacked their car in Ilkley.

The incident happened last Thursday evening in Margerison Road, Ben Rhydding, Ilkley, when Malcolm Osbourne, of Otley, was waiting for his wife, Jean.

Four men drew up beside them and three of the men surrounded the car, threatened the man with a bat and a hammer and demanded he got out.

He pleaded with the thugs to let grandson Lee go free before they drove off, but he had to pull the toddler from the open back window of his silver Ford Mondeo.

Police are now hunting four Asian men after the car was used the next day in a violent street robbery in Keighley and a theft in Silsden.

Mr Osbourne, 56, was forced to take time off work because of the distress of the incident and Lee, who lives with his grandparents on Caxton Road, Otley, is still distressed.

His grandmother Jean said: "Malcolm was extremely shaken up and he found it impossible to go to work. It was such a traumatic experience and I think that Lee has been really affected by the whole thing. Lee keeps repeating all the fowl language that these people were using because he doesn't realise what he is saying - it is an awful thing for a three-year-old to go through.

"Malcolm was terrified because he thought that these horrible people were going to escape with Lee in the back."

Mr Osbourne is also the grandfather of Burley-in-Wharfedale youngster Matthew Downs, who suffers from a muscle wasting disease. Matthew, seven, hit the headlines last year with a high-profile appeal to buy a specially adapted car for him. Buggies belonging to both Matthew and Lee were stolen with the car.

The silver Ford Mondeo was used in a violent robbery in Keighley where the victim was hit with a baseball bat. The 49-year-old woman was left shaken and with a cut ear after she was hit on the head by one of the robbers during the incident in Fell Lane.

Last Saturday morning the occupants of the car filled up with petrol at Silsden Service station on Keighley Road, Silsden, and drove off without paying. Later that day the Mondeo was spotted by police but drove off at speed. It was later abandoned in Victoria Road, Keighley, and several Asian males were seen to run away from it.

The vehicle is now being examined by forensic experts. Anyone with any information or who saw the car at any stage is asked to call Detective Constable Nixon at Keighley CID on 01535 617083.

One of the men was described as 20 years old, of slim to medium build, 5ft 8 or 9ins tall, with a long face and long nose with a wide bridge. He was clean shaven and had dark eyes. He wore a light-coloured hooded top. The second man was 18 years old, 5ft 9in tall, of slim build with a slim face. He wore a peaked cap.