Burglary victim Rose Stephenson was moved to tears by the kindness of strangers on social media.

Rose, 75, of Mirfield, was left shocked and afraid after returning home to find her back door kicked in.

Rose, who doesn’t have home insurance, turned to neighbour Chris Holmes, 52, who harnessed the power of Facebook.

While police had her home boarded up, Chris put out an appeal on social media and was inundated with offers of help.

The battered door at the home of burglary victim Rose Stephenson in Mirfield

There were offers of cash, flowers and free meals while tradesmen offered to replace her door.

Rose said: “When I heard how kind people had been I was totally overwhelmed and it brought me to tears.

“All this good has come out of something bad. I just can’t thank people enough.”

Rose had been out shopping on Tuesday and came home at 2.20pm to find her wooden door smashed in.

Some of her possessions had been moved around and, to afraid to check upstairs, she fled to neighbour Chris for help.

Rose Stephenson with neighbour Chris Holmes who arranged for her smashed in door to be replaced - Wellhouse, Mirfield.

Once police had carried out a forensic examination of the scene Chris turned to the Mirfield Matters group on Facebook.

He told what had happened and added: “The poor lady is extremely stressed despite nothing substantial being taken but she genuinely has nothing to steal.

“She now has to pay for repairs as she has no house insurance. The police have arranged to have it boarded up at no cost but if anyone knows of any local organisations that may be able to help with a door replacement for an elderly victim of crime please let me know.”

Chris told the Examiner: “My reason for doing this was to ask if there were any local organisations which could help victims of crime. What I wasn’t expecting was the overwhelming gestures of kindness.”

It is believed the burglars were disturbed and nothing was stolen. Rose’s laptop wasn’t taken and Chris said: “Rose doesn’t know about Facebook but we’re going to get her set up on Mirfield Matters and she’ll instantly have 500 friends. It’s going to change her life.”

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Ben Holland, 30, of Mirfield-based Tulip Building and Roofing spent two-and-a-half hours on Wednesday installing a new hardwood door.

It’s cost him £300 including labour but that doesn’t worry him. “I haven’t done it for any money or publicity, it was just to help an elderly lady in need,” he said.

“It’s not the damage for her, it’s the trauma of what happened and I really felt for her. If it was my mum or grandma I would have gone to the ends of the earth to sort it out.”