A pair of elderly couples have told of their terror after a robber desperate for cash burst into their homes.

Alan Turner was punched in the face and knocked to the floor after answering the door at his Brighton home by an intruder who forced his way past him.

The thief stood over Mr Turner, 78, who suffers from arthritis, shouting at the the OAP to give him money.

Mr Turner said the robber picked up an umbrella and thrust the spiked end towards him.

Hove Crown Court was told Mr Turner's wife, Pamela, heard the noise in the hallway of their terraced home in Upper Lewes Road, Brighton, during the February 1 incident.

She gave him £30 from her purse, the only money the couple had in the house.

The robber fled after neighbour Sebastian Maher, who had been alerted by the noise, rang the couple's doorbell.

David Jones, 43, is accused of robbing Mr Turner the day after staging a similar raid at another elderly couple's home in Bevendean, Brighton.

Jones, of North Place, Brighton, denies two charges of robbery.

The trial continues.