A CHIGWELL man who confronted a hammer wielding burglar armed only with a garden rake has denied he is a hero.

Joe Donovan, 61, returned to his home in Gravel Lane, to be confronted by a large man armed with a hammer.

Instead of keeping a safe distance, Mr Donovan grabbed the first thing to hand and defended his property.

Speaking to the Guardian today, Mr Donovan described the confrontation.

He said: "I opened the door as normal, there was no sign from the front of the house at all that anything was going on, then I just suddenly felt like someone was in the back of the house, so I went around and looked in the garden and saw the window was smashed."

"I realised they could still be in there, so I just grabbed the first thing to hand, which turned out to be a rake, I took it inside and he was in there just going through the house."

"He looked desperate to get out of there, I think he was more bothered about the situation than me.

He was stocky with a round face, he swung the hammer at me a couple of times and I blocked him with the rake."

After a brief struggle, Mr Donovan managed to get the man outside of his home, where he was lunged at again with the hammer.

The desperate thief started to chase Mr Donovan down the street, still swinging the hammer.

The empty handed thief hit Mr Donovan in the hand, leaving him bruised and bloodied before making off.

Mr Donovan shrugged off suggestions that he was a hero.

He said: "I wasn't really thinking at all, I was wired with adrenaline, I realised afterwards that there could have been killed or that there could have had someone else up there with him, but it was just instinct."

"I've had worse injuries washing up"

Mr Donovan, who has lived in the house since 2001, has been burgled twice, and faced at least one attempted break-in.

Police are appealing for help in identifying the burglar who attacked Mr Donovan just after 2pm on Friday, July 3. He is described as white, 5ft 7ins tall, with short mousy coloured hair, was of Eastern European appearance wearing brown combat trousers, a dark top and carrying a duffel bag.

Anyone with information is asked to contact officers at Chigwell on 0300 333 4444.