REASONABLE force. That is what the law says you the householder can use if you find a burglar in your home. You will not face prosecution for attacking or even killing a burglar providing you use only "reasonable force", say new guidelines published February 1.

This was the reassurance issued by police and prosecutors in a new leaflet advising the public how far they can go to defend their property.

The issue of whether people should be allowed to use violence to defend their home was highlighted when farm Tony Martin shot dead 16-year-old burglar Fred Barras.

The new leaflet, which will be distributed through Citizens' Advice Bureaux and police forces in England and Wales, said: "You are not expected to make fine judgements over the level of force you use in the heat of the moment.

"So long as you only do what you honestly and instinctively believe is necessary in the heat of the moment that would be the strongest evidence of you acting lawfully and in self-defence.

"This is the case if you use something as a weapon."

The leaflet added that the more extreme the circumstances and the more frightened a householder, the more force he or she could lawfully use. It also pointed out that intruders did not necessarily have to be the first to use violence.

"If you have acted in reasonable self defence... and the intruder dies you will still have acted lawfully.

"Indeed there are several such cases where the householder has not been prosecuted."

The leaflet warns people that they could still face the courts for using "excessive and gratuitous force".

If burglars run off with your property, you can still use force such as a "rugby tackle or a single blow" as to recover it, said the leaflet.

Burglary victim Peter Lehola, who was attacked by armed robbers in his Poole home, welcomes the leaflet.

He said: "Now they have clarified it a bit more I think it's exactly the way it should be. You should be able to use any necessary force instinctively. You shouldn't have to be faced with a stranger in your home and have to think about the type of force your are using. Once you think about it you become defenceless."

John Revell, chief crown prosecutor in Dorset, said there had been no cases in the county where a householder had been prosecuted while trying to protect their property.

"We would only prosecute if we think the force used was totally excessive and not justified and that doesn't happen very often.

"We hope the guidelines will reassure people and make them feel when they are confronted with a frightening situation they are quite entitled to act sensibly to protect themselves without the fear that they will be prosecuted, providing they don't do something totally out of all proportion."

First published: February 2