A MOTHER has shared her horror after a burglar broke into her home to steal jewellery in the same room as her sleeping children.

The 45-year-old woman has shared CCTV images of a suspect after her home in Portsea Road, Tilbury was burgled on Friday night.

She said the burglar had managed to pick the lock on her door before entering and taking various items of jewellery from her husband and children’s bedrooms.

The woman said: “He managed to get into my house shortly before 1am, we think he used some kind of device to break through the lock.

“I was working at the time, but he was in my bedroom where my husband slept, taking his watch and other jewellery.

“He then went into my daughter’s bedroom to take more jewellery, and when he was in there he dropped a piece of a Pandora bracelet on the floor.

“My daughter woke up and thought it was her sister taking things, but as soon as she realised it was someone else he had left the room.”

The daughter then immediately called the police before raising the alarm with her father, but the burglar escaped.

The woman said it has left her and her four children, aged 16, 15, 13 and nine, feeling vulnerable in their own home.

She added: “We now need to figure out how we can make our house safe from these people.

“It’s quite shocking when they’re walking around when people are sleeping.

“My daughter was very good, she locked herself in her room and called the police straight away.

“But we are feeling very, very vulnerable.

“There’s a gap in the CCTV where we don’t know where he is in the house. He may even have eaten food from the kitchen.”

A spokesman for Essex Police said: “We are investigating a burglary at an address in Portsea Road, Tilbury which took place shortly after 1.05am on June 8.

“It was reported a man had entered the property and then left before returning and being confronted by people inside.”

Anyone with information should call 101 quoting the crime reference number 42/89574/19 or Crimestoppers anonymously on 0800 555 111.