A BRAVE 85-year old man found himself face to face with a balaclava-clad burglar inside his home who then fled with hundreds of pounds.

Harold Hanks, who is better known as Kenneth, walked downstairs to find the brazen thief in his kitchen, rifling through draws and helping himself to cash.

The pensioner told how he began shouting at the burglar who ran out of the house and down his path “like lightening” – having first snatched £300 savings he had put away for Christmas.

The break-in happened two days before Christmas – and just days after Kenneth was the victim of pickpockets while he was out shopping.

The former school caretaker at Romsey Infants told the Daily Echo how he confronted the burglar in his kitchen at the back of his North Baddesley home after suspecting something was not right and going down the stairs to investigate.

He said: “As I approached the kitchen I saw a shadow pass across the kitchen window. I called out ‘What are you doing in my house?’ I couldn’t recognise who it was.

“He was wearing a balaclava or baseball cap and carrying a blue fluorescent light.”

Kenneth, who served in the Merchant Navy and worked on cruise ships including the Queen Mary, told how the thief bolted out of his house after being confronted.

Daily Echo:

“He was down the path like lightening. A car was waiting for him and they went straight up the hill as fast as possible.

“I thought about running down the path but I knew I couldn’t in case I fell over.”

The thief stole £300 in £20 notes and left the scene in a white van or car.

The great-grandfather of two described how he was “devastated” by the burglary.

He said: “They went straight to the drawer in the kitchen and took my money. They knew what they were looking for. I should never have kept the money in the drawer. To rob an 85-year-old man is despicable.”

The break-in, on Monday afternoon at about 4.30pm, came just 24 hours after he had his credit cards, driving licence and medication prescription taken when his wallet was stolen during a trip to Asda in Eastleigh.

Police are asking anyone with information to come forward and call 101 while they remind residents to be vigilant with home security.