AN armed robber broke into a Timperley family's home and attacked their sleeping nanny.

The 52-year-old woke up to find the man, armed with a hammer, sitting on her chest with his hands around her throat.

The man broke into the house on Parkgate Road, Timperley, by cutting though a kitchen window at around 7.30pm on December 13.

The family - a 37-year-old mother, 47-year-old father and their three children, aged 13, 10 and four - were upstairs at the time.

The mother, who does not want to be named, said their nanny had been left very shaken by the ordeal.

The nanny suffered a bleeding mouth and bruising.

The mother  - who is a doctor, as is her husband - said she no longer felt safe in her own home.

The nanny had called out the mother's name as she struggled to get the man off her.

The mother said: "It is so scary because this happened when we were all at home.

"He must have been able to hear us.

"Our nanny is massively frightened and feeling dreadful.

"She had been in the living room sleeping on the sofa.

"Then I heard her shouting my name."

She went down to find her in the corridor and bleeding from her mouth. The intruder had fled by this time.

Continuing to describe what happened, she said: "She woke up to see a man putting his hands on her mouth and her forehead and trying to squeeze her neck.

"She said he was trying to strangle her.

"She called my name and she pushed him away and he ran away."

The man stole the nanny's handbag.

The mother added: "Why would a burglar attack a sleeping lady? What were his intentions?

"It is horrendous."

A spokesman for Greater Manchester Police said: "Shortly before 7.40pm on Tuesday, December 13 police were called to Parkgate Road to reports of a robbery.

"A man forced his way into a property, grabbed one of the occupants round the throat and threatened her with a hammer before stealing cash and a handbag and fleeing the scene.

"Anyone with information should call police on 101 or Crimestoppers anonymously on 0800 555 111."