Knife-wielding youths abduct motorist as she parks

DETECTIVES are hunting two young men who abducted a 52-year-old female motorist at knifepoint, subjecting her to a two-hour ordeal.

The woman was tied up with straps cut from her handbag and abandoned in a remote country lane before they drove off in her Ford Fiesta, which has still not been found. South Wales Police believe robbery was the motive. The thieves stole her handbag and some cash.

The incident began at about 4.15pm on Wednesday as the woman was parking in St Andrew's Crescent, near Cardiff city centre. One man approached, threatened her with a knife and forced her to sit in the passenger seat. He drove only a few yards before a second man got in. They drove her around Cardiff, Penarth and Barry in South Glamorgan, before stopping in Wenvoe, about six miles from Cardiff.

There the woman was bound hand and foot and left on a grass verge. She managed to free herself and raised the alarm at a nearby house.