ARMED robbers smashed their way into a house and held a family of four at knifepoint before stealing a large amount of gold, in what the victims believe was a targeted attack.

Just before 8pm on Thursday, three men in balaclavas broke into a house on Goodshaw Avenue, Blackburn, terrifying Noreen Aslam and her family as they sat in their front room.

Mrs Aslam said: "My husband and my mum were downstairs and I was upstairs with my grandad.

"We heard a loud bang and suddenly three people in balaclavas ran in.

"One of them pinned my husband to the ground with a knife and one ran upstairs and straight into the bedroom."

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CCTV footage from a neighbouring property shows the three robbers pull up in a car and park across the road from the house.

One of the attackers can be seen getting out of the car and approaching the front door.

He tests the handle, and then makes his way back to the car before all three assailants run to the property. Footage then shows them kicking the internal door down.

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Mrs Aslam, 25, said she was in one of the other bedrooms, and fearing for her life, acted quickly by locking the door and calling the police.

She said: "I was so scared, I called the police and then I thought, 'if I'm going to die I want to be with my husband', so I quietly came downstairs and then one of the other men saw me and pinned me to the wall with a knife and pulled my hair.

"It all happened so quickly. They were all wearing balaclavas but I could tell they were white and had local accents.

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"Two of them had large knives and one had a crow bar. They took all the gold from the bedroom and then ran out.

"We didn't sleep at all last night and we don't feel safe in our own home, we're so scared."

Mrs Aslam said the police arrived not long after but had missed the robbers by minutes.

She said that her house, which is in a quiet residential area of Blackburn, had been empty for four weeks while the family had been in Pakistan for a wedding, and can't understand why the robbers waited until they were back before they broke in.

Mrs Aslam continued: "They knew what they were looking for and they went straight into the bedroom, they didn't touch anything else in the house or go into any other room.

"I think they targeted us. They stole my husband's mobile phone but it was later found a few streets away by a passer-by and the police went to collect it.

"My mum and my husband were so scared. We all were."

Mrs Aslam, whose family own Manchester Sweet Centre on Whalley Range, said this isn't the first time thieves have targeted properties in her street.

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She said: "This is the third robbery now as two other houses have been targeted in the past, one of which prompted the neighbours to install CCTV.

"The police were really nice when they came round and a lot of the neighbours have been over to see if we're ok.

"We are just happy that nothing has happened to us and we aren't hurt."I hope they can catch whoever has done this as we really don't feel safe now."

A spokesperson for the police said: "We were called at around 8pm on Thursday December 6 to reports of a burglary on Goodshaw Avenue.

"Three men, believed to be armed, forced their way into the house and demanded money before searching the property and taking some gold. They have then fled from the address.

"We cannot say at this time how much gold was taken but it looks to be a substantial amount.

"Luckily, nobody was hurt in the incident and we are asking anyone with any information which could help us in our investigations to call us on 101 quoting 1276 of December 6."