A pensioner has had part of a finger removed after a struggle with a bare-chested thug who robbed her home.

Surgeons had to remove the top half of Grace Wilks' little finger after her ordeal.

The intruder attacked Mrs Wilks, 79, and stole £260 which she had been saving for a holiday with her sister.

Mrs Wilks was watching Songs of Praise on television at her ground-floor flat near Brighton General Hospital when the man burst in.

She challenged him as he ransacked her small flat and when he moved towards her wardrobe she blocked his way, saying: "You're not going in there".

The man used his superior strength to wrench open the doors and trapped Mrs Wilks' left hand between the door and the wardrobe frame.

Despite the pain, she continued telling the robber to get out. She tried to stop him opening drawers with personal items inside. When he left with the words "I've got what I wanted" she dialled 999.

She was taken to the Royal Sussex County Hospital, where surgeons had to remove the top half of her little finger.

Speaking from her bed at the Royal Sussex County Hospital, Brighton, Mrs Wilks was in tears as she told of her ordeal.

Her doorbell rang just as Songs of Praise finished.

She said: "There was a man with no shirt on and just wearing a pair of trousers.

"He asked if a man by the name of Paul lived here. I said no. He then asked if I had two fivers as he needed change for a £10 note. I said no and he then pushed past me and started going through the flat.

"He started to take out drawers and turn everything out. He had a glove on one hand. I told him to stop but he just continued to go through the flat.

"When he got to the wardrobe I said, 'You're not going in there,' but he used his strength and forced the doors open, catching my hand.

"It really hurt, but I kept on telling him to get out. When he left he just said, 'I've got what I wanted', and then walked out the door.

"I realised he had taken £200 and another £60 I had saved for my holiday at Coombe Haven, near Hastings, with my sister.

"My hand still hurts but what I am really worried about is what my family will say when they realise the money I had been saving for my holiday has gone. I never told them I was specially saving for my holiday."

Detective Constable Sam Smith, of Brighton and Hove police, said: "Mrs Wilks is a lovely, brave pensioner.

"She is very shaken as a result of this incident but seems to be coping well. It is absolutely disgraceful when people pray on the elderly or the vulnerable.

"This man needs to be arrested as soon as possible and we urge anyone with any information to contact us or this will happen again to someone else."

The man is described as white, fat and about 40. Anybody with information should contact Mr Smith on 0845 6070999.