PUB landlady Mo McDonnell has spoken publically for the first time about the frightening moment she came face-to-face with a hooded burglar in her bedroom.

The publican was asleep at the Stirrup Cup in Bisley when it was raided by two masked men.

They fled, with her daughters' boyfriends Matt Court and Pete Newman in pursuit, when she raised the alarm.

Ms McDonnell woke up to see one of the intruders at the end of her bed and shining a torch in her face.

He and another man had searched the popular local for cash.

Police believe the two may be behind other pub raids in the Five Valleys.

Ms McDonnell said: "It was 7am and it was light. They had possibly been trying to get in for quite a while.

"One was in my room. I said 'who are you?' He grunted and shone a torch in my face. He ran out like lightning."

Her two daughters' boyfriends leapt out of bed to chase them and police sent tracker dogs but the raiders escaped.

An empty cash till drawer was later found by a farmer outside the village.

"The boys were in hot pursuit," said Ms McDonnell.

On the way down the stairs the burglars smashed wine bottles against mirrors in a bid to stop barefooted Matt and Pete chasing them.

The till had a day's takings in it. Money was also taken from the staff tips, a charity jar and a purse.

Ms McDonnell's daughters Emily Nash, 20, and Jessica Nash, 22, were also in bed during the raid.

Police think two raids on pubs three weeks earlier may be linked to the one at the Stirrup Cup on March 7.

The New Red Lion in Chalford and The Bell Inn in Avening were both targeted early on February 15.

A safe containing cash was taken from the New Red Lion and tips were stolen from behind the Bell's bar.

Bell landlord Richard Price said: "I came down at about 1am and, although I didn't notice anything at the time, I could have disturbed them.

"Nothing was taken other than the tips. They forced a window open. It's more of an inconvenience."

A Gloucestershire police spokeswoman said: "These three burglaries are being thoroughly investigated and we are not ruling out the possibility that they may be connected.

"We would also like to encourage anyone who witnessed any suspicious activity around these venues to report it to police on 0845 090 1234 or Crime-stoppers on 0800 555 111."

In an unconnected incident, a gang of expert fruit machine crackers raided Stroud's Queen Victoria Inn.

While one man distracted pool players at the Gloucester Street pub, two or three others opened the machines and emptied them of cash.

Landlady Pam Thom has put iron bars across the front of both machines since the thefts on February 23.