A MUM and her twochildren are facing a ruined Christmas – after callous burglars stole all their presents.

Sharon Lister and her children Lee, 10, and three-year-old Kerry, are devastated after the break-in at their Bradley Mills home.

The thieves took all the Christmas gifts Mrs Lister had bought for her children and even stole the Christmas turkey out of her freezer.

Other items taken included a Samsung mobile phone, a Nintendo Wii games console and Mrs Lister’s Acer laptop, which contained work for her photography course at Northern College in Barnsley.

The burglars struck while Mrs Lister was out visiting friends from 11am to 10pm. They forced a kitchen window at the back of the house and Mrs Lister returned home to find her belongings ransacked.

She said: “I live on my own and it was a bit scary coming back to that. I didn’t touch anything, I couldn’t face it. I was really upset.

“My cat was scared almost to death and is still hiding. It has ruined Christmas.”

Mrs Lister has no idea how she will replace the children’s gifts, or her laptop.

She said: “I really want it back. It has all my work on. It is the kids they have really let down though. These people just don’t think about the effect this has on them. I am a single parent and I can’t really afford to replace a lot of those things.”

The burglary at Mrs Lister’s home was the second in the area in recent weeks. On December 1, one of her neighbours had her home burgled while she was in hospital overnight.

The raiders stole items including a laptop computer, jewellery, iPod music players and a set of keys.

Mrs Lister also had her keys removed and left in the back garden and believes the burglars had intended to return and use them to open her door, in order to remove bigger items such as her plasma TV.

Detective Constable Russ Conlon, of Huddersfield police intelligence unit, said burglaries do rise over the Christmas period, as thieves know people’s homes will be stocked full of gifts.

He said: “There is an increase at this time of year. They know that people have presents in the house and more expensive goods than usual.

“People have to take precautions. These crimes are preventable. The majority of burglars are opportunists so if you don’t give them the opportunity, these thefts can be easy to prevent.”

Det Con Conlon urged people to watch over their neighbours’ homes at Christmas.

“If you see anyone acting suspiciously alert your neighbours and do not be afraid to ring the police if necessary.”

He appealed for anyone with information about burglaries or stolen goods to contact Huddersfield CID on 0845 6060606 or Crimestoppers anonymously on 0800 555 111.