AN elderly woman has relived the moment she told a knife-wielding burglar to ‘kill me, kill me’ as he held her down on the sofa of her living room in Devizes.

The grandmother, 77, said: “He had the knife right in my chest. I yelled at him that I knew who they were and for him to kill me and run. I wasn’t going down without a fight.

“I then started to scream very loudly and the other man who was searching the bedroom shouted that they should get out.”

Her ordeal started at about 8.10am on Saturday when her doorbell rang at her home at Sedgefield Gardens, which is part of an almshouse development.

She was confronted by two men wearing balaclavas and gas masks.

She said: “My door was on the chain and I saw a shadow of someone and I thought it was my son.

“I called out that I was coming and took the chain off. These two men barged their way in. I was dragged into my living room and held down on the sofa with a knife.

“I was terrified but I wasn’t going to let him know how I felt. I thought if I pretended to know who they were they might run away.”

After she started screaming the men left without taking anything but and their victim managed to ring her son and the warden of the complex who rang 999.

She said she believes the same men came to her house on Friday but then pretended it was the wrong address.

Warden Jayne Chesham said: “This has had a serious affect on everyone who lives here. They were just beginning to come out of lockdown but now everyone is terrified of leaving their houses even just to sit outside.”

A campaign has now started to get the trustees of the almshouses to install CCTV. The Bobby Van Trust is to install cameras inside the victim’s house so she can see who is at the door.

Det Con Rebecca Taylor said: “If you were in the Sedgefield Gardens area on Friday and saw two men but didn’t think anything of it at the time, please get in touch as the information you have could be really significant to our enquiries.

“If you were in the area on Saturday morning and you saw or heard the two men please call us now.”

Det Con Jayne Wilby said: “This was understandably very frightening for the victim. It is fortunate that she was not injured however she was understandably very shaken up and has been left feeling frightened as a result of this incident.

“We have been conducting extensive enquiries today and have obtained descriptions of the two men involved. The first man is described as white, approximately 18 years old, 5ft 3ins tall, of slim build and wearing a grey hoodie.

“The second man is described as white, also aged around 18 years old, of a similar height and build, and wearing a black or navy coloured hoodie.

“We would urge anyone who was in the area, or anyone who may have seen these individuals, to get in touch as they may have information which could be significant to our investigation.”