Varsha Patel, 45, hurled the steaming cuppa into the face of one of the men then threw the empty mug at the other’s head.

Mrs Patel, who is just 5ft, was about to grab a bottle of whisky to throw at them too – but the pair fled with just a scratch-card dispenser between them.

Yesterday she told how she frightened off the balaclava-wearing burglars at the Kensworth Village Store in Beds, which

she runs with her husband Yogesh.

She said: “I was scared afterwards but at the time I just reacted on instinct.

“You don’t know how you will react in these situations until they happen but I have never been one to sit back and let people bully me.