Detectives investigating a robbery, during which a 71-year-old woman was bound and threatened with a knife in her home in Sale, are offering a £10,000 reward for information leading to the arrest and conviction of the people responsible.

During the early hours of Thursday 28 September 2006, the woman was in bed at home on Marford Crescent when she was awoken by noises in her bedroom. It is believed there were two or three men in the room and that they bound the woman and held a knife to her demanding belongings.

After the offenders fled, the woman managed to free herself and went downstairs where she found her purse, watch and her red Austin Metro City car, registration number G980 PBU, had been stolen. The car has not yet been found.

The woman was not injured but has been left extremely shaken by this incident.

Detective Sergeant John Fox from Stretford CID said: "This was a terrible attack that has left the elderly victim extremely shaken. The size of this reward reflects our determination to identify and arrest the people responsible for this horrendous attack.

"I would ask anyone who has any further information about this incident to contact us. Anything they may have seen, no matter how insignificant it may seem, could be the key to tracing the people responsible."

Police are also appealing directly to people who work in scrap yards and vehicle dismantlers who may have come across the Metro car during the course of their business.

Anybody who saw anybody acting suspiciously in the area around this time is asked to contact Stretford CID on 0161 856 7691 or Crimestoppers, anonymously, on 0800 555 111.