A BOLTON pensioner told today how he and his wife were threatened with a gun after being robbed on holiday in Greece.

Mr David Holmes and his wife Valerie say they will never go back to Corfu after their terrifying ordeal.

They were awakened in the early hours of the morning by two men raiding their apartment.

Mr Holmes, 65, of Cox Green Road, Bromley Cross, got out of bed after seeing a man on the balcony.

He put on the outside light and saw two men, in their early twenties.

"One of them came towards me with an automatic rifle and started waving it around indicating that I should go back inside.

"It was very, very, frightening," said Mr Holmes.

He returned to his apartment, turned out the lights and locked the door and armed himself with a frying pan in case they returned.

"There was no phone in the apartment and nobody about. If we had screamed no-one would have heard us."

It was not until later in the morning that the couple discovered they had been robbed and were able to report the incident to the police in their resort at Sibari. Mrs Holmes, 52, found her empty handbag on the balcony. Items stolen included £90, cameras, cheque cards, sunglasses and bags.

Mr Holmes was able to give a description of one of the men to the police but although several people have been questioned, they have not caught the raiders who are believed to be from Albania.

Mr Holmes said he visited the island several times and had never experienced any problems before. He vowed that neither he nor his wife will ever go back.

"Apparently it is now quite rife. They come across the sea from Albania to do their looting and many people have been robbed."

Two days ago a businessman from Sevenoaks was shot dead on his yacht when he found pirates stealing his dinghy.

Converted for the new archive on 14 July 2000. Some images and formatting may have been lost in the conversion.