BURGLARS entered a family’s home while a mother and two children slept upstairs.

The group broke in through the front door of the house in Mornington Road, in Over Hulton on the night of Sunday, June 23.

Dad Stewart Utzeri was away from home on a trip in Hemel Hempstead when the break in occurred and was woken at midnight by a call from his neighbour who said he had disrupted the thieves and seen them flee.

However, Mr Utzeri rushed home that night to check on his family.

When he arrived he found that the front door of the house had been forced open, with many rooms ransacked.

Mr Utzeri believes the thieves, thought to be a group of four men, were looking for his wife’s car keys after a similar raid on the same night saw a vehicle taken from a property on Newbrook Road.

“These scumbags are the lowest of the low going into somebodies house while they are in bed,” he said.

“I ended up opening the bedroom door about 4am in the morning and my wife jumped out of her skin. She thought I was in Hemel Hempstead so she was shocked.”

Mr Utzeri's seven-year-old daughter and 12-year-old son were also asleep.

The raid is the latest in a number of burglaries in the area, and Insp Duncan Haynes, from GMP, said officers were investigating.

He added: “We strongly advise people given the hot weather to be mindful about leaving windows and doors open.

“You will see an increase in officers in and around the area.

“We would ask that any suspicious circumstances are reported.”