A BURGLAR was stabbed to death and the householder arrested on suspicion of murder after intruders tried to break into his home.

Peter Flanagan, 57, his son Neil, 29, and his girlfriend, 21, were last night being quizzed by detectives after the death of John Bennell, 27.

The father and son got involved in a violent struggle during which at least one man was stabbed after a masked gang tried to smash down the back door of their £120,000 terraced home.

Bennell, from Hyde, Greater Manchester, was dragged away by three accomplices wearing balaclavas and propped against a tree but paramedics could not save him.

Police who had rushed to the property in Salford after a 999 call on Wednesday night arrested the Flanagans and Neil's unnamed girlfriend.

The stabbing came two days after David Cameron vowed to give legal protection to people who defend their property. Currently the law allows homeowners to use "reasonable force" in self-defence.

Mr Flanagan's ex-wife Valerie said: "It's a terrible incident. My husband is a great man and a great father. It's such a shock."

As police cordoned off the house – which backs on to scrubland – neighbours revealed a gang had been disturbed while trying to break down the door a week ago.

Valerie Thomas, 67, said: "My granddaughter was woken up by four or five young men kicking the door and banging trying to get in. She went into the street and started screaming and that scared them off."

It is understood the Flanagans told police they also found the four men trying to break into the home.

Described by neighbours as a "lovely family with hearts of gold", Mr Flanagan helped his digger driver son run a construction company in Manchester which was dissolved in 2007.

One neighbour said: "They're just a normal family. I think it's perfectly understandable if Neil and his father stood up to a gang of burglars. I would have done the same to protect my family."

As forensic experts scoured the property, Chief Superintendent Kevin Mulligan – who confirmed police were conducting a murder inquiry – said: "I can reassure the community we will thoroughly investigate and do not believe members of the public are at risk."

Police appealed to the three men who helped Bennell to contact them.

And Downing Street said Mr Cameron had not changed his views on the right of homeowners to defend their properties.

Mr Cameron's spokesman said this incident "doesn't change that" adding that the Justice Bill would "put beyond doubt that homeowners and small shopkeepers, who use reasonable force to defend themselves or their property, would not be prosecuted".

Shami Chakrabarti, director of the civil rights group Liberty, said: "This is a problem not of law but the public understanding. People facing intruders can use reasonable force to defend themselves.

"But saying 'burglars leave their rights at the threshold' could be a recipe for vigilante execution and mistaken killings."