We have just come across a story on sunherald.com (AP) in which a plucky pensioner, said to be in his 80's, repelled a burglar by thwacking him around the head with what is being described as a 'long shoehorn'.

The site says that burglars kicked the door down in the pensioners home, then demanded money at gun point.

But the pensioner stood his ground and the burglars made a run for it.

Nobody was injured.

The police eventually caught up with the burglars when they broke into another home that night.

It all happened in a place called Lebanon (!) in Wisconsin, USA.