Thieves broke into a Calderdale house using a blowtorch and then confronted a couple when they woke up.
Mark and Lauren Stevenson were woken around 2.30am by burglars searching downstairs rooms for the keys to their Audi A3 which they had bought just three weeks earlier.
One of the balaclava-clad thieves who broke into their home on Bates Avenue in Sowerby Bridge demanded the car keys and didn’t move after being told to get out by Mark, who was worried about their 10-year-old daughter.
Lauren, 27, said: “I was absolutely petrified. The most scary thing was when he said he was coming upstairs and how blase he was.
“He had an (unlit) blowtorch in his hand and was on the first or second step. He was holding something in his other hand. My husband told me to get in the bedroom and stay there.”
Lauren posted photographs on her Facebook page of the melted front door as a warning to other householders to be on their guard.
“I just don’t want it to happen to anyone else, especially people with children in the house.”
Mark, 32, said the use of a blowtorch to disable door locks was a growing problem.
“A police officer said it’s happened a few times and is becoming more common. They used a blowtorch to melt away the plastic, bent the handle up and pulled the lock out.
“The police officer said they are targeting BMWs, Audis and high performance cars in general.”
He recalled one of the burglars shouting: “Throw the effing key down or I will come up and get it.”
Mark said the experience had left him feeling “very vulnerable” in his own home. He is now planning to having an alarm and CCTV cameras installed.
The raiders left when the couple called police. The couple praised police for arriving at the scene very quickly.
It is believed that the thieves made off in a BMW which crashed on nearby Fore Lane.
The would-be thieves had searched a handbag but are not believed to have taken anything.
A spokesman for West Yorkshire Police said officers were called to reports of an attempted burglary at an address on Bates Avenue, Sowerby Bridge, in the early hours of Tuesday morning at around 2.35am.
“The suspects are believed to have gained entry by causing damage to the front door.
“They carried out a search of the property and made off from the scene empty handed after being disturbed by the occupants of the house.
“A short time later, officers were called to a nearby road traffic collision.
“The vehicle involved has been recovered and is being linked to the incident by detectives. Enquiries remain ongoing.
“Anyone with information is asked to contact Calderdale CID on 101, quoting crime reference 13170255622.”
