A COUPLE revealed their terrifying ordeal at the hands of masked men who burst into their house and attacked them, demanding cash and jewellery.

David Bishop, 53, told how he fought the three attackers while his wife Julie Dawes was hit over the head with a sawn-off shotgun before crawling away to raise the alarm.

Police found gaffer tape and cable ties outside the property in Nutley Avenue, Saltdean, which they believe were dropped by the attackers.

Friends of the couple have come forward to offer a £25,000 reward for information leading to the arrest and conviction of those responsible.

Mr Bishop recalled how his wife had gone to bed about half an hour before the attack, which took place at about 11pm last Thursday. As he prepared to do the same, the door “came crashing in”.

He said: “They came in demanding money and trying to take my watch.

“I just dived at them, started fighting at them. They started hitting me with all sorts of things. They held a gun to my head and they started hitting me with a wooden statue [next to the door].”

Miss Dawes said she was woken by shouting and came downstairs to see her husband getting beaten on the floor.

She said: “They were hitting him – he was kicking and punching back.

“One of them just went behind his back and pulled out a gun and whacked me in the head with it.

“He hit me so hard I went straight down.”

Miss Dawes managed to get out via the back of the house, then crawl along the side until she reached the road and went to a bar to get help.

The attackers eventually ran off after fighting with Mr Bishop.

Police took 19 minutes to get to the house, with officers from Brighton attending first.

A Sussex Police spokesman said: “We responded as quickly as we could with the resources available to us at the time.”

The two victims both went to hospital with Mr Bishop staying in overnight.

He has gashes to his head and hands, while Miss Dawes has severe bruising to her head and neck.

Police believe the attack was targeted and said there had been no reports of similar incidents in Brighton or Saltdean recently.

Miss Dawes said the attack had left her afraid in her own home and the family no longer deemed it safe for her grandchildren to stay the night.

She said: “It’s dreadful. It all just comes flooding back.”

Detective Inspector Gavin Patch asked anyone with information or who saw what happened to email 101@sussex.pnn.police.uk or call 101, quoting serial 1518 of February 5.

Alternatively, call Crimestoppers anonymously on 0800 555 111.