A PUB landlord yesterday told of the terrifying moment he woke to find a burglar in his bedroom.

The intruder unknowingly locked Tom Yates, 62, in his own flat as he burgled it, while more than 30 drinkers chatted, oblivious, in the pub below.

Mr Yates and his wife Jean, 59, host a quiz every Sunday at their pub, the Wain-y-Clare in Mamhilad.

But on Sunday Mr Yates was in bed ill, when just after 9.30pm his bedroom light was switched on.

He said: "I looked up at the bedroom door and there was this man standing there.

"He didn't expect me to be there, I can tell you."

Mr Yates ran after the intruder to the stairs which lead from the first floor flat to the pub downstairs to find the door was locked.

He said: "He obviously locked the door just in case he was disturbed.

"He had already sorted out an exit by opening a window in my wife's mum's room and padding it with her clothes."

The burglar escaped through the window with more than £100 of costume jewellery belonging to Mrs Yates' 84-year-old mother, Renee Hollows.

But, Mrs Yates said: "It could have been so much worse, if Tom hadn't been in bed and disturbed him he could have got away with so much more."

While the couple say they were lucky, the episode affected the whole family.

Mrs Hollows in particular is refusing to sleep in her bedroom until it is thoroughly cleaned and every trace of the intruder is gone.

Mrs Yates said: "I couldn't sleep last night. The whole thing has made me feel uncomfortable and quite vulnerable."

The intruder is described as white, in his early 20s, between five feet 10 inches and six feet tall, of medium build with short-cropped hair and a clean shaven, smooth complexion.

At the time of the burglary he was wearing a light top and possibly a grey anorak.

Police are particularly appealing for a woman who left the pub on crutches shortly after the incident to get in touch.

Anyone with information about the incident is asked call police on 01633 838111 or Crimestoppers on 0800 555111.