An 80-year-old woman has told how she was left crying on the floor in agony after being viciously assaulted by a girl she had asked to keep the noise down.

Joan Franklin is in constant pain and suffered severe bruising to her arm and hips after being shoved to the ground by the girl, who was causing a disturbance with two friends outside her home in a block of flats in Bassett Street, Kentish Town.

The group then shamefully swore at the elderly woman and taunted her before running off.

Miss Franklin was lying helpless outside her front door for 15 minutes until a neighbour came to her rescue.

The pensioner told how she had let the two females and one male in through the communal front door as they claimed they were visiting a relative at around 11:20am last Wednesday.

She was outside her own flat on an upper floor when she became concerned that the group was hanging around the stairwell and shouting loudly.

“I was worried as a neighbour has just had a new baby so I called down and asked them to keep the noise down,” she said.

“But this girl came running up the stairs and grabbed hold of me, placing her arms round me. I told her to get off and all of a sudden she pushed me. I fell over onto my hip and arm and must have hit one of the plant pots.

“I was in so much pain. I couldn’t move and was crying ‘please help me, please help me.’

“But they just swore at me. They used the F word and C word and called me an ‘old cow’. I could hear them mimicking me crying for help as they ran off downstairs.”

Miss Franklin was unable to move. “I kept calling, but thought that all my neighbours must be out and I lay there for about ten to 15 minutes. I was scared nobody would find me.”

Eventually a neighbour across the hallway realised she was lying there and came to her rescue. She called for police and an ambulance and waited with Miss Franklin until they arrived.

The pensioner, who suffers from osteoporosis and lives alone, spent the night in hospital, undergoing x-rays and being treated for severe bruising and a cut to her arm.

Now back home, she is determined to carry on as normal. “Before this, I was coping fine but now they have really brought me right down,” she said.

“The pain is terrible. It is difficult but I am determined to carry on going out. Otherwise it would be like being in prison. I won’t let them beat me. I have to be strong.”

The former Sainsbury’s worker, who has never married or had children, said that neighbours were being very helpful at the Kentish Town West estate where she has lived since 1963.

But she says that the area has changed and there are often youths taking drugs hanging around the estate. “I hope they catch them. The girl who hit me, there are no words for her. There was no need for her to do this. I was just thinking of my neighbour with a newborn baby.”

Det Con Adele Joyner, from Camden CID, said: “This was a callous act and the victim sustained extensive bruising to her right arm and elbow. Thankfully, her injuries were not serious but understandably she is very shaken by what happened.

“We have conducted enquiries within the block and the local area and we are now calling on the public to help trace those responsible,” she said.

Police have issued a description of the suspects. Suspect one is a white female, mid 20s, with a ‘skinny’ face. She was wearing a black three-quarter length hooded coat with the hood up.

Suspect two is a white female, of stout build with long blonde hair.

The third suspect is a white male who spoke with an Irish accent. He was wearing a black hooded top with the hood up and black trousers.

Anyone with information should call Camden CID on 020 8733 6588 or 101. Or call Crimestoppers on 0800 555 111.