A masked robber broke into a home and held the family at gunpoint before making off with £100,000 of jewellery.

The gunman, wearing a balaclava, broke into the house in Church Lane, Bulphan, shortly after midnight yesterday and made his way to a bedroom where a 20-year-old woman was sleeping.

She was awoken by the robber holding a gun to her head and taken downstairs to where her 60-year-old father and mother, 55, were watching television.

All three of them were tied up and stripped of the jewellery they were wearing before being taken back upstairs.

The gunman raided all the upstairs bedrooms and at one point kicked the father in the chest, causing a slight injury.

When the man left, the family eventually managed to struggle free from their bonds and called police.

The man is described as white and in his 30s and was wearing a dark fleece jacket and blue and white trainers.

He got in through an upstairs window that had been left open due to the hot weather.

Police were yesterday interviewing the family and will be making a full catalogue of items stolen.

The list so far includes two Rolex watches, two gold Cartier bracelets, two diamond solitaire rings and a three-and-a-half carat sapphire ring.

Police are appealing for witnesses who may have seen any suspicious vehicles in the area to call Det Sgt Graham Carter at Corringham Police on 01375 361212 or Crimestoppers on 0800 555111

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