A FAMILY was left devastated after their home was broken into yesterday afternoon where valuable items were stolen.

The family of five were not in the house on Richmond Road, Accrington, at the time when the kitchen window was smashed at 5.30pm, but CCTV footage from a neighbour shows the men entering the property.

Shabir Ahmed and his family came home to a distressing scene when they discovered iPads, gold, money and passports among other things stolen from the house as Police are investigating the incident.

The 44-year-old said: “They trashed everything in the house. They left such a mess that our 8-year-old son went to school crying this morning.

“Our youngest boy had nightmares last night after seeing the state of the house. The police haven’t arrived yet, are my three children not a priority?

The burglars also damaged kitchen cupboards, leaving the house in a mess as they left. Mr Ahmed was at work at the time, while his wife and children were at a relative’s house.

When Mrs Ahmed returned home at 6.30pm she found the kitchen window had been shattered and knew straight away that they had been the victims of a burglary.

After calling the police, Mr Ahmed’s son ran to the neighbour’s house to call his friend’s dad who helped search the house, but the burglars had already left by then.

Mr Ahmed said: “When I dropped my kids off to school, they were scared. As a Dad I felt really bad too. What if they had been in the house?

“I’m just really annoyed the police haven’t arrived yet. Only the Crime Scene Investigators came briefly.”

A police spokesman said: “I can confirm it’s been reported and is under investigation.”