Birmingham Crown Court heard that Edith Basham, 69, and her 84-year-old aunt, Doris Ray, spotted the youth leaving a house in the Kings Heath area of the city.

Former health worker and grandmother-of-two, Mrs Basham, said: "I go to visit my aunt each week, and during one visit someone saw a lad taking glass from a window of a house nearby."

The pair called on ex-soldier John Roberts, 64, for help, and he scaled a wall to investigate.

The thief's legs were tied up with a handbag strap

"But John was gone a long time and so we went round to the front of the house, where we encountered this lad," said Mrs Basham.

"I pulled off one of his trainers, but the other wouldn't come off, so I tied his leg with my handbag strap.

"Doris sat on him, while he struggled until the police came. He kicked at both of us and Doris was bruised."

On Tuesday, a judge awarded the women £100 each for their public-spirited actions, after sentencing the 17-year-old offender, who cannot be named for legal reasons, to two years' detention.

'Fantastically public-spirited'

He had admitted two charges of attempted burglary, two of going equipped for theft, three of assault, one of burglary, and one charge of allowing himself to be carried in a stolen car.

Mrs Basham added: "It is nice that we have been honoured for what we did. But really we didn't think about it at the time.

"I just hope now that the young man who did this can get help and get his life sorted out."

Detective Sergeant Peter Reader, of West Midlands Police, said: "This was a fantastically public-spirited thing to do, especially given the age of the people involved.

"I have never come across anything like this before. It was extremely brave."