A BLACKBURN restaurateur and his wife were left frightened after a midnight raid on their home.

Three masked men carrying knives had tied up the pair, and left with £350 before threatening they would kill them if they told police.

During the ordeal, the raiders slashed open the restaurant owner's pockets, taking £100, as he and his wife lay bound and gagged on the floor of their home in Lammack.

The men cut telephone wires and turned off electricity before fleeing with the cash and their passports. The restaurant owner managed to struggle free and ran to a neighbour’s to raise the alarm.

He and his wife had just got home after locking up their restaurant.

As the wife entered through the back door, and the restaurateur parked the car, they saw the raiders in their home.

He said; “My wife was very frightened and I could not be sure what the men would do.”

The thieves also slashed a jacket and held a knife to the victim's throat to force him to tell them where the remaining money was, which was hidden.

Blackburn police were handling the matter.