AN elderly widow gave chase after waking up in the middle of the night to discover a burglar standing beside her bed.

Eighty-four-year Lilian followed the intruder downstairs as he made his escape – only to discover that her home had been ransacked while she slept.

She was heartbroken to discover that war medals which had belonged to her late husband Jack had been stolen in the raid.

Daily Echo: Click below to see a video of today's headlines in sixty seconds

Jack, who died ten years ago at 75, served in the Royal Marines during the Second World War and took part in the Russian Convoys, which delivered vital supplies to the Soviet Union.

Lilian, who asked the Daily Echo not to print her surname, said: “I woke about 1.30am to find an intruder staring down at me. I shouted, ‘who are you, what do you want’. He scampered out of the room as fast as he could and I followed him down the stairs before telephoning a neighbour.”

Lilian, of Hampton Close, Blackfield, said her husband’s medals were stolen from a glass-fronted display case.

“Discovering they had been taken was the worst bit – that and finding all my jewellery gone,” said Lilian, who is pictured with a photograph of Jack wearing his meadals.

“Nothing was broken and I wasn’t hurt but it doesn’t feel like my home any more. I’ve lived here for 55 years without any trouble. Now it’s always as if there’s someone there.”

A police spokesman said the break-in occurred in the early hours of last Tuesday. He said the intruder was in his 20s and may have been wearing a hip-length hooded jacket.

Ring PC Philip Price at Hythe police station on 0845 045 4545 or call Crimestoppers on 0800 555 111.