A woman tackled two burglars she found in her kitchen after returning home from a walk.

The 52-year-old woman, who asked to remain anonymous, came home from walking her dogs to find the intruders in her home in Turnsteads Avenue, Cleckheaton.

The youths had searched rooms upstairs, ransacked drawers and cupboards and put jewellery in a bag before they were disturbed.

"I was expecting my daughter and when I found the side door open, I presumed she must be home," said the woman. "I sent the dogs inside and they raced upstairs. Then two lads came running down the stairs, shouting 'Help, help, we're being killed!'" The woman realised they were too young to be her daughter's friends.

"I just thought 'they're burglars!' and my first instinct was to try to stop them," she said. "I thought 'You're not getting away with this!'

The back door was open and as I grabbed them with my arms, they pushed me backwards out of the door. I fell down the three steps and banged my head on the drive."

The pair ran off along Turnsteads Avenue towards Whitcliffe Mount School. They took the woman's purse, containing credit and bank cards and car keys which were hanging in the kitchen.

"When the police were here I noticed my car had gone from outside," she said. "They must have come back in all the commotion and taken it, or had a third person waiting to drive it off."

The youth who pushed her was described as white, 15 or 16 years old, 5ft 7ins, slim, with fair, short hair. The second youth was also white, 15 or 16, and of similar buld but with darker hair.

The car is a grey Ford Fiesta, reg-istration S435 MDN, worth £4,000, which has not yet been recovered.

The incident happened around 1.30pm on Thursday. Anyone with information is asked to call Dewsbury police on (09124) 431059.