A Bradford woman has spoken of the “horrendous” moment she was robbed of her wedding jewellery worth about £4,000 and more than £2,000 in cash when her bag was snatched in a busy Bradford street.

Police believe Shagufta Sharif, 34, from Heaton, and her husband may have been followed after visiting a jewellers in White Abbey Road.

They were approached by two men in Hartman Place, Heaton, who, Mrs Sharif said, “practically pounced” on them.

One of the suspects took her handbag, which contained cash, jewellery, bank cards and mobile phones, police said.

The suspects then fled in a Volkswagen Passatt, which was believed to have made off towards Jesmond Avenue.

Mrs Sharif said: “It completely took us by surprise so we couldn’t do anything, it was on a main road, you wouldn’t expect that to happen. No one stopped to help.

“We just felt what kind of world is it, the fact someone just thinks they have the right to take things off you in the middle of the street. I shake every time I talk about it, I’ve never experienced anything like it.”

She said she had been taking her wedding jewellery to get valued and had sold some of it before the robbery.

Bradford South Detective Inspector Nicola Bryar said: “Prior to the incident, the couple had just been to a jewellers on White Abbey Road and it is very likely that they were followed by these men.

“When the bag was snatched, there were also a number of people in the area and I would like to hear from anyone who saw this incident.

“A significant amount of money and expensive gold jewellery was contained in the bag and it is possible that the suspects could have attempted to sell this on.”

She said police are using CCTV to try to trace the culprits and is calling on anyone who might have information about the men or the jewellery to come forward.

“It is believed that there may have been a total of four men in the VW Passatt which made away and all are described as Asian,” she said.

Anyone who has any information about the robbery, which happened on Tuesday at 2.30pm, is asked to phone Bradford South Police on (0845) 6060606 or Crimestoppers on 0800 555111.