AN ELDERLY man who stabbed a suspected burglar may have allowed two intruders into his flat, police said last night.

Officers were called to the sheltered housing complex in Rodney Street, Birkenhead, shortly before 4am yesterday.

The 72-year-old tenant received cuts to his face during what police described as a “confrontational burglary” by two men, one of whom was left with knife wounds.

Two men, both aged 39 and from Birkenhead, were arrested on suspicion of burglary following the incident.

The pensioner was taken to hospital to be treated for his injuries.

Police sealed off a large residential area around Vincent Naughton Court, a sheltered housing complex which accommodates 71 residents over the age of 60.

It is managed by Cosmopolitan Housing Association, who run a number of sheltered housing schemes around Merseyside.

Stunned neighbours woke up yesterday morning to police tape blocking their street and traffic diversions.

Dave Hughes, 46, said: “I was up at 6am when they were putting the tape up and I spoke to a police officer.

“They said that two people had broken into a house and the occupier had stabbed one of them. People who break in deserve everything they get.”

Another resident, Joanne Russell, said: “It makes me feel sick seeing all these police here. It’s scary.”

Locals were turned away from the area cordoned off at the junction of Borough Road and Clifton Road, near the Birkenhead Tunnel flyover.

One man, who did not wish to be named, added: “It’s obviously something very serious. I first became aware of this when we brought the kids out to get them to school.

“It’s fairly worrying to have something like this happen when you have a young family. It makes you wonder if you want to go on living here.”

Geoff Redhead, chief executive of Cosmopolitan Housing Group, which owns the sheltered housing property, said: “We were very disturbed to hear about the incident at this scheme and we have staff immediately available on site to assist police and support other residents, but due to ongoing police investigations, we cannot comment further at this time.”

A Merseyside police spokesman said: “Officers were called to reports of an incident at an address in Rodney Street.

“A 72-year-old man in the property at the time, received cuts to his face, during a confrontation with two men.

“One of the two men was injured. Both men are being treated for their injuries.

“The motive is unknown and investigations are on-going into the exact circumstances of this incident.

“The area has been sealed off for forensic examination and house to house enquiries are on-going.”