Great-grandmother fights off burglar with a back scratcher

 A great grandmother has seen off a burglar with a wooden back scratcher.

Joyce Ross, 73, heard the man enter her ground-floor flat in Byker, Newcastle upon Tyne, through an unlocked door.

She grabbed the nearest weapon to hand – a wooden pole with a claw on the end.

Ms Ross said: “He must have thought I was an easy target but now he definitely knows I’m not. I picked up my butter knife but he pushed that away, then I got my phone and told him I was calling the police but he just slapped it out my hand.

“That’s when I picked up my back scratcher and tried to hit him. We started to scuffle, he pushed me and I hit my head on the door frame. Eventually I managed to push him out.”

Det Sgt Tony Scott said: “We are making sure she is safe but I really want to praise her for her actions. We would never advocate people to confront a burglar but she kept her composure and removed an opportunist thief from her home.”