An 85-year-old war veteran has told how he and his 90-year-old sister armed themselves with a poker and a walking stick to see off burglars from their home.

A man calling at their home in Tidworth, near Salisbury, on Friday night, claimed to be a water company official there to deal with a leak.

When the elderly man would not let him in, the would-be thief jammed his foot in the door and called to his accomplice.

The 85-year-old former infantryman in the Wiltshire Regiment, who weighs only six stone and is very frail, grabbed a poker and hit one of the men two or three times over the head.

Walking stick

When he called to his sister to contact police, she came downstairs and hit both men with her walking stick.

The would-be thieves fled empty-handed out of the back door.

Wiltshire Police spokesman David Taylor said: "While we would not recommend these actions to other members of the public, that does not mean that we do not recognise their bravery."

Very frail

He said the brother and sister are frail and although not injured, had been very shaken by their ordeal and asked not to be identified in the media.

The brother told police: "It's like in the playground, if someone pushes you, you push them back.

Mr Taylor said: "This Remembrance weekend, this man should have been remembering his colleagues who fell at his side serving their country.

"But instead he will be remembering these two scum who entered his privacy and traumatised his sister."

Police are looking for two men, aged between 20-30, who were wearing the same style plain blue jerseys.