A frail Mid Sussex pensioner was told "sit down and shut up" by burglars who ransacked her cottage home.

Dorothy Connor, 92, watched in terrified silence on a chair in her kitchen as the men rifled through her belongings and demanded cash.

They made off with £80, her weekly pension, which had just been collected and change from her purse.

Mrs Connor's son Christopher Pattenden, 51, raised the alarm after he found her sitting shivering in silence at her kitchen table when he made his regular visit to her home in Balcombe 20 minutes later.

But despite her ordeal the pensioner last night insisted the callous crooks would not affect her life. She said she was at home when the two men knocked at her door on February 6 at 3.30pm.

Believing it to be workmen who had been tiling nearby houses, she answered and the men walked in. Forcing her into a chair they went through the dresser in the kitchen.

When they could not find any money they searched the lounge and then went upstairs to her bedroom.

The men pulled ornaments off shelves and emptied cupboards and drawers, strewing her possessions on the floor in search of cash. When they found her pension they left.

Mrs Connor said: "At my age I'm a bit shaky at the best of times but I was even more shaky after they left. They didn't touch me, which is a good thing."

The pensioner, who uses a stick to walk, has lived in the village all her life.

She knows many of the residents and enjoys her independence and frequent visits by her neighbours.

She said: "I'm careful and use a lock and chain but I'm not going to be scared of living just because of these men.

"I won't change my way of life. I won't let them get me down. I'm lucky to have my children who visit me every day."

The widow, whose husband died 15 years ago, has four children, three sons and one daughter.

Three live nearby in Burgess Hill, Haywards Heath and Lindfield and at least one of them visits every morning and every evening to stock up wood for the cooker in her kitchen.

Her son Roy Pattenden, 64, said he was saddened by the attack and added: "My mother was left shaken. I feel terrible about it.

"It's disgraceful and such a shame old people can't just be left to get on with their lives.

"There's an old-fashioned community spirit here where everyone knows each other and the doors are open to all. It would be terrible if that changed but my mother won't let it get to her.

"My mother is very old-fashioned and she doesn't worry about answering the front door. She knows virtually everyone in the village and they look out for her."

A police spokesman said: "We are treating this incident very seriously. We would stress to everyone not to answer the door to strangers."