A woman of 92 suffered serious facial injuries during a terrifying robbery at her remote West Sussex village home.

Today she was recovering with relatives after hospital treatment as detectives questioned two men arrested nearby.

The two will also be quizzed about two gunpoint robberies in the same area on Monday and which also involved elderly people.

Police were called to Manhood Cottages at Almodington, near Chichester, shortly after 7.15pm yesterday by the woman's worried neighbours.

A spokesman said: "A 92 year-old woman had been beaten and suffered serious facial injuries."

An unknown amount of cash was stolen from the house. Within minutes, police arrested two men driving a white van in nearby Bracklesham Bay.

The victim has not been named.

Detective Inspector Neil Fellingham said: "The woman was badly bruised but has been released from hospital and is staying with relatives."

Police have appealed for witnesses who saw a dirty white van with ladders on the roof in the area.

On Monday afternoon a man wearing a balaclava brandished a silver handgun at his an elderly woman at her home in Bracklesham Lane, Bracklesham Bay.

The male attacker escaped in a white van with at least one other man, according to witnesses.

An hour later an elderly man living in Hillfield Road, Selsey, was robbed in his home by two balaclava-clad men, one of whom had a silver handgun.

Cash was stolen from both houses.