Burglars met their match when they raided Navy veteran Alan Swayne's house.

They had broken into his home, hoping to grab what they could but instead were confronted by the 63-year-old.

Mr Swayne, an old hand at scuffles during his time as a Royal Navy petty officer, grabbed one teenage intruder round the neck.

He was about to thump him when his wife Sue cried out: "Don't hit him."

The burglar ran out and joined an accomplice as they fled down the road with Mr Swayne shouting: "I'm coming after you".

He said: "I was going to get into my car and get them but then I realised I could hardly walk."

Mr Swayne, of Mile Oak Road, Portslade, suffered a torn leg muscle and an arm injury in the tussle. He was treated at the Royal Sussex County Hospital, Brighton.

His wife, a 53-year-old computer programmer, was first to confront the intruder.

Mr Swayne, an assembly engineer, said: "It was 4.24am and we were half awake from the cries of seagulls outside.

"Then we heard the front door letterbox flap and another noise downstairs.

"I went to look out of the window, thinking it was foxes jumping at the door.

"Sue went downstairs and found the burglar in the kitchen. He ran past her and was going for the front door when I caught him."

Nothing was stolen but it was the fifth time Mr and Mrs Swayne's home has been broken into.

They lost a handbag, binoculars, camera and a diver's watch in the past and culprits from two of the raids were later apprehended and jailed.

Mr Swayne, who has lived at the address for 31 years, doesn't know why his house has been targeted so many times but he refuses to move.

He said: "These people should realise they are stealing from their own working class.

"I come from a little village in Durham where people always left their doors open - they were so poor there was nothing inside worth stealing.

"Now I've worked for a decent standard of living and these people come along and try and relieve me of what I have earned.

"They are just too bloody idle to get off their backsides and earn their own."

The two burglars were both 16 to 18. The one caught by Mr Swayne is about 5ft 3in, stocky with fair, short, hair.

His accomplice is 6ft, thinner and wore a hooded top.

Police searched the area but the pair escaped.

They appealed for witnesses to call 0845 6070999.