An elderly married couple got the fright of their lives when three hooded men broke into their Żejtun farmhouse but left empty-handed minutes later, leaving them trussed and immobile for four hours.

Anġlu Attard, 80, and his wife Margaret, 76, were woken up at about 2.30 a.m. yesterday when the men broke into their property situated in a side road branching off President Anton Buttigieg Road.

The intruders broke the lock of the front door and entered the bedroom where they bound the hands and feet of the elderly couple with plastic tie clips, immobilising them.

Police sources said the men left a few minutes later, probably because the dogs belonging to the Attards started barking loudly and the thieves panicked.

Nothing was stolen but the elderly couple were untied when their son-in-law turned up at their house at 6 a.m.

The couple were treated for shock.

Duty Magistrate Gabriella Vella appointed several experts to help in an inquiry.