Woman, 101, says she won't be scared out of her home after burglars took war medals

• Watch Betty tell ITV News' Ken Goodwin about how she felt after realising her items were stolen

A 101-year-old pensioner from Gloucestershire woke up in the night to find two burglars roaming around her house who stole her late husband's war medals.

Betty Rout - who was awarded the British Empire Medal for her community work - says that keepsakes and medals from her husband's service in the second world war were among the items stolen.

She said she desperately wants them back.

Betty Rout's home was broken into on Friday 28 June. She woke up at some point between 10pm and midnight and noticed two men walking in her kitchen.

"These two men came from the kitchen and stood in front of the doorway," she told ITV News.

"I think one of them said 'sorry about this'."

Betty was so unphased by the intrusion that she simply went back to bed.

It was not until the next day that she realised her husband's war medals were among the items stolen.

The police weren't called until her carer arrived and noticed some items were missing.

"I just wondered what they were doing," she added. "We didn’t come to blows. We could’ve done it if I'd have been a bit cheekier perhaps."

The thieves stole a safe containing six medals and uniform patches awarded to Betty’s late husband Stephen Rout during the Second World War. Several handbags, purses and documents were also taken.

Stephen served in the Royal Army Service Corps before the war, rising to the rank of Sergeant Major and continuing throughout the conflict until he was demobilised in 1947.

He was awarded medals for his service in Palestine, Africa and Italy and was also mentioned in dispatches for distinguished service in July 1945.

Mrs Rout said she didn't initially think about the medals.

"I didn't know they were in there," she told ITV News. "My passport I did think about, I thought 'I wonder what happened to my passport?'.

She said she would love to have them returned: "I just took them for granted.

"Most war soldiers have got medals, don't they. But he didn't ever talk about it much - they don't, the old soldiers, they keep it to themselves."

Her son Robin Rout says his mother is determined to stay in her own home.

"That’s kind of who my mother really is," he said. "She's very stoic and very matter-of-fact and pragmatic.

"They didn’t get away with anything of any value other than my father’s medals, which are of sentimental value, it’s more that it’s an intrusion into her space."

Betty is now hoping that someone will spot her husband's medals should the thieves try to sell them.

Police are now appealing for anyone with information about the burglary or the whereabouts of the medals to come forward.

Inspector Alec Linton, Gloucestershire Police, said: "They carried out quite a cowardly act here, but it’s good that this hasn’t hasn’t affected Betty too much, but it has affected her family.

"They will worry about her. They care for her. It just doesn’t affect the victim. It affects the wider community."