A woman was taken to hospital with a broken nose after a youth punched her and knocked her unconscious on the doorstep of her home.

A police spokesman said the 46-year-old victim had answered the door to a teenager at her home on the Coach Road Estate, in Usworth, in Washington, at 1.30pm on Monday.

The spokesman said: "The youth asked her for a cigarette.

"When she refused he punched her in the face and ran off. The blow broke her nose and she was knocked unconscious."

The woman was treated at the Sunderland Royal Hospital.

The youth is described as 15-16 years old, 5ft 8in, of thin build with pale white skin. He spoke with a Wearside accent and was wearing dark coat with the hood pulled over his head and the front of the coat pulled over his mouth.

He also wore a dark balaclava pulled down to just over his eyes.

Anyone with information has been asked to call 0191-454 7555 ext 66462.