A pensioner was held at gun and knife point as burglars ransacked his Hillingdon home, in terrifying ordeal that has left him too fearful to return.

The 70-year-old man, who did not want to be named for his own safety, was enjoying a drink with a friend, an ex-partner, at his home in Athol Way, Hillingdon, at around 9.30pm on Sunday (April 17) when a knock at the door began the nightmare encounter.

He said: “I opened the door. This guy put a handgun to my head, he beat me round the head with it and put me to the floor.

“Two other guys dragged my ex out, beat her up and threw her on the floor and it went from there.

“There were three burglars - two with knives - they had scarves around their faces.

“But the other bloke with the gun, he was so blatant, no gloves on - I was looking down the barrel of a gun, looking at him effing and blinding, and he kept hitting me with the gun.”

'We want the money and the gold, you know what we're talking about'

The burglars made demands to the man saying "we want the money and the gold, you know what we're talking aboutw but the man had no idea what they were referring to.

He continued: “They let me crawl into the kitchen to get up, to show them where there was a jar of money.

“He (the burglar) said 'we don't want coins, we want paper' - I said 'I haven't got nothing'.

“And with that, the one put the knife to my throat and the other one had the gun to my head, and he 'if you 'f***ing don't give us what we want you're going to have it'.

“I said 'I haven't got it' and he looked at the kitchen top, picked up this imitation Rolex watch, put it in his pocket, bank cards that were in a plastic folder with about £100 in as near as I could say, and then he turned around and said 'let's go', and then the three of them went out the door and I slammed the door behind them.”

The attack happened only two days before a woman in Hounslow was knocked out, tied up and threatened with a gun in another violent burglary.

All in all, the burglars got away around £400 of cash, which the pensioner had been saving up in pound coins and 50ps, plus his imitation Rolex watch – and left the place 'ransacked'.

The 'terrified' man said he and his ex-partner were too distressed to be seen at A&E that night.

He said: “After they left, I phoned police and they came down in quite a mob. There were six cars, then we had to wait for CID to come and I just left them to it.

“There was an ambulance there and they asked me and my ex-partner if we'd like to go to hospital, but I said we're too stressed out to go and sit there for hours - we can't do it."

The man eventually went to hospital and had x-rays and blood tests and was told he was badly bruised.

'Council not looking after pensioners'

This is the second time the man has been burgled since he has lived at his council home – burglars previously ripped his back door off.

The victim said: “I've gone over there to see if there's any mail, unlocked the door, kicked the door and stepped back in case there was anybody in there. I mean, I can't live there.

“I've been on to the council about moving me - this would have been prevented if they put cameras up like I told them to do a couple of years ago.”

The man, who has lived in the borough for many years, has told Hillingdon Council that he totally refuses to move back in there.

He added: “I'm not a young man where I can stand up and fight anymore. I've all these problems with my hip and back and I'm 70 years old. My fighting days are gone.

“The council are not looking after their pensioners. I'm not the only one who's been burgled down there. There's been four or five burglaries down there in the last five years.

“I've asked for a fence around the area but they said they couldn't as it was a public path.

“They put a camera up down the alleyway as there was drug dealing, and I went down there the other day and it was gone.

“My neighbour said the council have come and taken it down because they needed it somewhere else.

“You're telling me, you've got to take a camera from one point to put it to another?”

He described the burglar with the gun as “6ft or a little under, stocky built with roundish face and the other two as “tall and slim”.

When the knife-wielders were beating his ex-partner in the toilet, he says she saw one of their scarves fall down and described one as mixed race.

In January, a man forced a West Drayton burglar to flee empty handed from a neighbouring pensioner's home.

Hillingdon Burglary Squad investigate

Metropolitan Police confirmed they were called at 10.30pm on Sunday (April 17) to reports of an aggravated burglary at a residential address in Athol Way, Hillingdon.

A spokesperson said: “Three men, one armed with a firearm, forced their way into the address and threatened the two occupants before stealing cash and making off from the venue.

“Officers and London Ambulance Service attended the scene.

“The two victims - a man and a woman - were treated at the scene for minor injuries and shock, they declined hospital treatment.

“Officers from Hillingdon Burglary Squad investigate.”

No arrests have been made as yet and police are continuing their enquiries.

Anyone with information is asked to contact police on 101 or call Crimestoppers anonymously on 0800 555111.