A YOUNG woman was dragged along a road by a car when a passenger snatched her bag as she walked home.

The 19-year-old from Kennington, Ashford, nearwho asked not to be identified, was attacked as she walked along Canterbury Road in the early hours of last Saturday morning.

She was left lying in the road with cuts and bruises to her legs and lower back. Police confirmed the attack could be linked with a second bag snatch about 30 minutes later.

The car, thought to be a Ford Escort, pulled up alongside the woman and a passenger asked for directions.

As the car drove off, another passenger in the back leaned out of the vehicle and grabbed the bag from her shoulder, dragging the teenager along the road for several metres.

The victim has asked not to be named by she said: "I waved down a taxi and went to a friend's house where I called the police. I'd had a bad day and this just topped it off."

She had just returned from London by train and booked a taxi to collect her in Park Street, but it did not arrive or she missed it. She tried to call another cab, but could not get through and was still trying when the attack took place at 1.10am.

Her bag contained her mobile phone, debit card and wallet as well as a number of sentimental possessions and the fall broke her minidisc player.

She said there were four men and a young woman in the car, but did not know the colour of the vehicle.

"I'm pretty shaken, but I want other people to know what happened, because if there have been other attacks some victims might not have come forward and spoken to the police," she said.

Officers told her there was an almost identical attack on the same night in Kennington, which could be linked.

At 1.43am a blue Ford Escort drove past a woman walking home from the M20 nightclub. The car stopped and two women got out, snatched the bag and then fled in the vehicle.

Rosy Alexander, police spokesman, said: "The incidents are being investigated and may be linked." Anyone with information should call Ashford police station on 01233 611055.