The terrified victim, a former Golden Wonder company secretary, struggled with the two men who broke in while he was sitting in his lounge.

The man was at home in the quiet village of Harringworth, near Corby, at about 9.20pm on Thursday when he saw a man standing in the room.

He stood up, but another burglar came into the room.

One of the attackers then grabbed the victim's arms and pinned them
behind his back while the second man searched through his pockets and stole cash.

One of the burglars went upstairs and searched a bedroom but did not
steal anything.

The pensioner tried to use the phone to call the police but was stopped from doing so by the second man.

The victim managed to grab his walking stick from the hallway and attempted to hit the burglar with it.

But the burglar tried to take the stick off him and injured the man's wrist.

Sarah Chambers, who lives in Wakerley Road, is a member of Neighbourhood Watch.

She said: "The whole village is very upset about this.

"His wife was in bed upstairs and he was just watching television.

"He's been a tremendous backbone for our village and has this year retired as a trustee of one of our local charities.

"He also had a hip replacement last year so is very frail.

"And yet he managed to fight these men off while trying to ring the police.

"It must have been terrifying for him. I'm probably half his age and I would have been terrified."

Neighbourhood Watch officials helped the elderly man by boarding up his window.

Both men, described as having local accents, ran off through the back door of the property after the man tried to fight them off.

The victim described them as looking similar to TV duo Ant and Dec, and probably in their 20s.

The first man was white, about 5ft 7in and stocky. He was fresh-faced and had short brown hair which looked as if it had recently been cut.

He wore a black leather-style blouson jacket and dark bottoms and training shoes.

The second man is of similar height and build but with darker, almost black, hair. He wore similar clothing to the first man.

Anyone with information about the aggravated burglary should call police on 03000 111 222 or Crimestoppers on 0800 111 222.