AN ELDERLY couple have been left terrified after being burgled twice in one week.

Officers believe it was the same callous thief responsible for both burglaries which happened while the pensioners were at home.

Now police in Southampton have urged anyone with information to come forward.

During the first break-in, the intruder crept into the married couple’s home in Laundry Road, Southampton, while they were upstairs.

The victim said he had been out pruning the garden earlier in the morning and had put his gardening scissors in his coat pocket, which he hung up by the door.

But when he went downstairs the scissors had moved, keys were missing and the patio door key had been flung in the garden.

A change bottle from the living room with £100 in coins was stolen as well as a small torch worth about £21.

Just days later the pair became victims for the second time.

The thief only fled when the 67-year-old pensioner intervened.

It happened at about 10.15pm when the couple, who were in their living room, heard a loud banging noise coming from the garden.

One of the pensioners went to the window where he saw a man heading towards his home.

He shouted out to the intruder causing him to run off.

Two sheds had been forced open and a garden fork and five tool boxes were taken and thrown over the back fence.

The suspect is described as a white male dressed in a light blue and white striped hoodie.

Anyone with information about the burglaries on both Friday, January 20 between 10.15am and 10.30am and Friday, January 27, should call PC David Wheeler on 101 or call Crimestoppers anonymously on 0800 555 111.