A LONELY 80-year-old Kidderminster woman has been left distraught after callous thieves stole the £390 she had saved up to visit her niece in Poland.

Kate Rybalka, of Broadwaters, had been saving her pension since December and believed the trip she planned to take in the summer would be her last, due to a heart condition.

The pensioner - who was planning to spend two months with her beloved niece Krystyna Malinowska in Slawno, west of Gdansk - was devastated when cold-hearted criminals stole the cash, as well as her bank book, cheque book and pension book, while she was shopping in Kidderminster town centre.

Ironically, she was keeping the cash in her bag because she feared it would not be safe in her home after it was broken into when she last visited Krystyna in August.

She had planned to bank it that day but the bank was shut.

"I can't forgive myself for carrying the money around but I thought it would be safe because I had it with me," she said.

"It has upset me so much. Even if they had left my pension book it would have been better because at least I could have gone and got my pension."

The Ukrainian pensioner grew up in Poland and moved to Kidderminster in 1947 after working as a servant in Germany for five years.

She then worked as a nursing assistant in Lea Castle Hospital, while her late husband, Dymtri, worked in a carpet factory in Kidderminster.

Her bag was unzipped and the items stolen while she was shopping in the Littlewoods store at about 10.45am on Saturday, March 13.

"I just went to look into Littlewoods because there were a lot of people in there and a half-price sale, so I went in there to waste the time," she said.

"I felt like somebody was squeezing me but, because there were so many people, I didn't notice anyone open my bag."

The pensioner, whose only daughter, Natalie, and three grandchildren live in Bristol, added she had planned to travel to Poland by coach to save money. The journey was going to cost about £190 and the rest of the money she had saved for spending.

"This has just finished me because I lost my son, Andrew, six years ago to diabetes and I still suffer sadness from that," she said.

"I've got angina and I'm on tablets.This was going to be my last trip to Poland and that was keeping me going, because I was going to stay for two months.

"I was going to go in June or July, depending on the money, because Poland is nice during the summer and I wanted to go to have a good rest and talk about when my niece was little."

She added: "I have never taken a penny off anybody. I've always worked for my money.

"I sat at the social security office for three hours last week and they gave me £10 and, towards the end, I started to cry because I didn't know what to do with myself.

"I felt so low going to social security because I've never done it before.

"I was living in Germany in Dresden during the war and survived but this is worse. I'm going to be 81 in May, so there are not many people I can go to because a lot of people of my age have passed on."

Her friend, Elaine Laga, of Bewdley Hill, added: "I just feel so sad for Kate because she left Poland during the war and lost her son recently, so her life's been quite traumatic. I think they must have picked her out because she looked totally vulnerable."

Anyone with any information on the theft should contact Kidderminster police on 08457 444888.

Alternatively, Crimestoppers can be contacted anonymously on 0800 555111.

Kidderminster police spokeswoman, Julie Wedgbury, said officers were looking into the crime but nobody had been arrested.