An East Sussex pub landlady came face-to-face with a burglar who crept into her home and stole £1,000.

Beryl White nipped to the loo to find a young woman in the bathroom of her flat above the Royal Oak pub in Newick, near Lewes.

The mum-of-two said: "I was caught by surprise and asked her what she was doing.

"She pretended she was looking for someone who lived there and then pushed past me and ran down the stairs."

Mrs White shouted to her husband John, who was downstairs. He ran outside and grabbed the woman but she wriggled free.

She got into a blue F-registered Ford Escort with a man inside. He drove away on the A272 towards Uckfield.

Mrs White said: "John stood in front of the car to try to stop them but they put their foot down. He had to jump out of the way otherwise they would have hit him."

The blonde burglar had climbed over the fence at the back of the pub and entered through the back door while the Whites were with friends in the bar.

She escaped with more than £1,000 in cash after emptying a wallet and purse belonging to Mr and Mrs White.

Mrs White said: "Most of it was takings which we were going to put in our account for the mortgage. We haven't yet sold the house we moved out of to live here.

"I was upset after I had taken in what had happened but now I'm angry they could get away with it."

The woman was 19 to 25, had blonde hair tied back in a ponytail and a fair complexion. She wore a cream anorak. The driver had dark cropped hair, a pitted complexion and wore a blue shirt.