An elderly man was threatened with a golf club by a burglar who broke into his Middlesbrough home.

The victim, who was left shaken by the incident, was forced to hand over his wallet after a youth got into the house in Marton.

Police said the burglar demanded the pensioner empty his pockets as he sat in his wheelchair in the kitchen.

Officers said the consequences for the victim could have been much worse because of his age.

'Defenceless man'

A spokesman for Cleveland Police said the burglar entered the man's home on Saturday by forcing open a downstairs window.

He said: "This was a totally despicable attack on a defenceless man of this age.

"It is terrible at this time in this man's life he has to suffer such fear and be terrorised in such a way.

"The trauma must have been terrible and the consequences could have been much worse than, fortunately they were."

The man, who lives alone, does not want to be identified.

The burglar is described as being between 18 and 20, and is thought to have escaped on a bicycle after the robbery, which happened at about 1600 BST.