A blind woman was dragged from her parents' car and dumped in the road after it was stolen while she sat alone in the back seat.

The car had been left with its keys still in the ignition to enable the 29-year-old from Cleckheaton to listen to music.

Her parents were less than 50 yards away looking at caravans at the Dick Lane Garage Company, Dick Lane, Thornbury, when they saw the Citroen Saxo being driven off at speed with their daughter still in the back.

The couple alerted the emergency services and frantically searched the surrounding area in another vehicle.

A few minutes later police received a call from a resident in nearby Iqbal Court saying a woman was lying injured on the road after being bundled out of a car.

The woman, who is totally blind, suffered bruising to her arms and back after she was pulled from the rear seat.

Children playing in Iqbal Court ran to help and one resident took her inside until police arrived to reunite her with her distraught parents.

Her mother, who did not want to be named, said: "It must have been terrifying. She is still extremely distraught.

"We were only out of the car a couple of minutes. She was sat in the back seat listening to some music.

"The thief probably didn't see her - he certainly wouldn't have known she was blind.

"He stopped the car a few hundred yards away and shouted at her to get out, but she can't move that quickly.

"He eventually got out, undid her seatbelt, dragged her from the car and drove off again."

PC Neil Greenwood, of Odsal Police, described the incident as a "terrifying ordeal" and appealed for any witnesses to come forward.

"It would have been a bad enough ordeal for someone who was able to see what was going on. To be sat there listening to music one minute then screeching around corners the next must have been extremely distressing."

The blue Citroen Saxo, registration number T805 SDC, has still not been recovered by police. It was driven along Dick Lane towards Dudley Hill, along New Lane, Iqbal Court, Kershaw Street, Bradford Lane, across the junction with Leeds Road and was last seen heading along Moorside Place.

Anyone with information about the incident, which happened at 4.10pm on Friday, September 1, is asked to contact Odsal Police on Bradford 376676.