A WINDOW cleaner last night relived the moment a gang of youths threatened him with a knife to steal only £11.

Albert Wathen, was in bed when he heard a knock at his front door.

He answered it and was confronted by a gang of four youths who forced their way into his home.

The 66-year-old was pushed backwards into the bathroom by one of the youths who brandished a knife and demanded money while another searched the rest of the house and the other two kept watch at the front door.

Mr Wathen, of Stockton, grabbed £11 off a sideboard and gave it to the youths.

He said: "It was all over in a minute, but it was the most terrifying minute I have ever known.

"I am not frightened easily, but I was pretty scared. I can't imagine what it would have done to an elderly lady living by herself.

"It was a cowardly thing to do all for the sake of just £11. I am able to shrug it off but it could have given someone else a heart attack.

"It was all just so unexpected and I didn't know what he was going to do with the knife."

The first youth is described as 18 or 19, white, 5ft 9in, with short brown hair and a thin face.

He was wearing a white tracksuit top, dark bottoms and had a 12-in bladed black handled knife.

A second youth was 15 or 16, wearing a woolly hat, black top and bottoms and had a red scarf around his mouth.

Anyone with any information about the incident, which took place on September 10 at 11.45pm, is asked to contact Stockton police on (01642) 302226.