Burglars stole a laptop after breaking into a house in Halstead.

An Essex Police spokesman said officers received a call from a woman at about 8.50am last Friday.

She reported that she had noticed the kitchen door was open when she returned to her home in East Mill.

Once inside, she realised a window had been forced and a laptop stolen.

Elizabeth Woolnough, who also lives in East Mill, believes her garden was used as an escape route by the burglars after her garden gate was opened and a wheelie bin knocked over.