A POLICE hunt is on after a teenage girl attacked a middle-aged woman with a car jack, repeatedly hitting her on the head.

The vicious attack took place in Watchgate in Darenth at around 8.20pm on Monday, leaving the 43-year-old victim, who does not want to be named, with head injuries needing hospital treatment.

She was walking towards her parked car after visiting the Co-op store when a teenage girl, aged around 15, blocked her path and asked her a question.

The woman turned around to see if anyone else was nearby to help, and the girl struck her in the back of the head with a car jack and grabbed her handbag.

As the victim struggled to keep hold of her bag, the girl struck her repeatedly in the head with the jack, knocking her to the ground, before fleeing with the bag.

The attacker jumped into a small red car with a white stripe from the boot to the bonnet and sped away with the bag, which contained bank cards and a mobile phone.

Kent police’s Detective Constable Helen King from the north Kent area crime unit is leading the investigation into the attack, and is appealing for anyone with useful information to come forward.

She said: “This was a nasty and unprovoked attack on a lone woman at a time when there would have been many drivers passing this parade of shops and using facilities there.

“We would particularly like to trace the distinctive red car that was in the area at the time of the offence - it is possible someone saw it drive off and knows where it went.”

The teenage girl is described as 5ft 2in tall, white with dark brown hair, and was wearing a pink tracksuit and woollen hat with plaits on either side.

If you have information which may help the police investigation, call DC King on 01474 366091 or Kent Crimestoppers, anonymously, on 0800 555111.