A PUB boss was so moved by frail Lily Walsh's ordeal at the hands of a street robber that he has donated £1,000 to a fundraising appeal.

The brave 91-year-old was punched in the face and had her purse stolen in Moor Lane near where she lived on Saturday, July 26.

Mrs Walsh, who uses a shopping trolley to help her walk, has refused to be cowed, and stepped out to the shops again just two days later.

Readers donated in droves to a fundraising page set up to help Mrs Walsh by shocked cafe worker Leyanne Bromley, from Breightmet.

Garry Sharp, who is in charge of The Griffin in Great Moor Street, was told of her ordeal in the pub, and was desperate to help.

He said: "I'm a bit of a softy to be honest with you.

"I was at the bar when this old chap came in, who drinks there every day, and said his sister had been mugged. Luckily enough they had not hurt her but they took her pension.

"He said it was about £240 and I started to fill up. So I said I could help out.

"About three hours later, a chap who I socialise with and he mentioned the story about the old lady being mugged, and the fundraising page.

"So I thought I'd donate £1,000."

The fundraising appeal has now raised £1,267 — more than six times the target Ms Bromley set when she set it up, with about two weeks to go before the page is closed.

Mr Sharp, who also owns Sharp Asphalt, a firm in Chorley New Road, which produces materials for road repairs, added: "I don't like the limelight but it's been all over Facebook and people are talking about it in the street.

"How these people can do this is beyond my comprehension.

"A few hundred quid is not a lot of money to me, really, so I just hope Mrs Walsh, when she gets a bit better, can do something worthwhile with it."

Mrs Walsh, a grandmother who has been married to husband Eddie for 69 years, told The Bolton News the attack would not keep her down.

She said she would donate the funds raised in her name to Cancer Research UK, after losing her daughter to the condition.

A police investigation into the robbery against Mrs Walsh is ongoing.

To donate in support of Mrs Walsh visit crowdfunding.justgiving.com/shelley-breen