The BBC's Wyre Davies reports on the plucky pensioners' experience

Mark Walker, 28, was found by police cowering in a fridge freezer in the garage of a neighbouring house in Brigend, South Wales.

Celwyn Jones, 77 and his wife Ethel, 82, were at home in in May, when Walker got in through an unlocked door.

Mr James, a World War II veteran, told the BBC: "I was faced with a problem, I either stood up or lay down.

"If I lay down he was going to walk all over us. If I stood up at least I was going to go down fighting.

"That's what I decided to do and that's what I did. If he shot me, he shot me.

"I was convinced the gun was real. I could see the barrel of it - I was only two yards away. He couldn't miss me, but I was determined not to lie down."

Ethel Jones demonstrates how she dealt with Walker

Mrs James said: "I got up and I hit him on the chest and he pushed me over and I landed flat on my back."

The couple battered pistol-brandishing Walker so severely that he offered them money to stop.

Their bravery came to light when Judge John Prosser awarded the couple £500 at Cardiff Crown Court, where he sentenced Walker to 11 years in jail.

Walker had admitted unlawful wounding, attempted armed robbery and causing actual bodily harm, as well as a string of other charges.

He also admitted possessing an imitation firearm.

Judge Prosser said the James' courage was "an example to us all".

"I've rarely been as proud of anyone for standing up to this type of crime," he added.

"You and your wife showed very great courage and my words cannot express my admiration."

He ordered that the couple should each receive a £250 reward which he described as " a nice Christmas present".

Mr James, a retired Home Office technician, who served with Royal Ordenance Corps during WWII said he was grateful to the judge for his remarks.

"It gives me no pleasure at all to see anyone locked away. The only pleasure is that it might have saved somebody else."