THE family of a have-a-go granny who chased a burglar from her home say police could have prevented the incident.

Great grandmother-of-three Mary Webb was asleep in bed with her husband Frank, 88, when she was woken by the light from a torch flashing in her bathroom.

The 86-year-old struggled out of bed, reached for her Zimmer frame and headed towards the living room, where the burglar had moved on to.

Mrs Webb was doubly incensed as it was the second time her home had been targeted in as many days.

The former dinner lady pushed the living room door open with her Zimmer frame and by chance trapped the burglar, who had decided to hide behind it.

The plucky pensioner screamed at the intruder: "What are you doing here? Are you the same chap who stole my handbag?"

The burglar managed to free himself from behind the door. He then ran for the window of the ground-floor flat, opened it and jumped out.

Police were called and arrived within minutes.

However, Mrs Webb's family are bitter because officers failed to turn up after the first incident on October 30.

On that day, she realised her handbag and some jewellery were missing and called the police.

Somebody had broken in through the living room window at the house in Peartree Close, Swanley, during the previous night.

The couple waited for the police to arrive but by the time they went to bed on October 31, no-one had been to interview them.

Now the Webbs' grandson Adam Perry, 23, of nearby Cranley Drive, says if police had attended the first incident, the second would not have happened.

He believes by not immediately investigating the first burglary, police gave out the wrong message.

He said: "It's a disgrace. All they had to do was offer some reassurance and let us know they are dealing with it.

"They're treating it as if it is not a serious crime."

North Kent police say although burglary is a high priority, they were too busy at that time to visit the couple.

A spokesman said: "Regrettably, due to the fact all north Kent patrols were already committed to other incidents, it was not possible to send a patrol to this address.

"The victim was phoned in the morning and evening on October 31 by the Kent Police control room but there was no reply."

Police are appealing for witnesses to the second incident.

The intruder is described as a white man aged about 20.

He was wearing a dark woolly hat, a dark-blue tracksuit top and tracksuit bottoms with a red diagonal stripe across the chest and down each leg.

Anyone with information should call north Kent police on 01322 283111 or Crimestoppers anonymously on 0800 55511.