A TERRIFIED mother and her 15-year-old son were left alone to face a group of thugs trying to smash their way into their home after police officer’s failed to turn up.

Mother-of-two Emma-Louise Meadows had only just drifted off to sleep at her house in Pearmain Road, Stanway, when she was awoken by someone repeatedly ringing the doorbell.

Emerging from her bedroom she found her youngest son stood in the hallway, eyes fixed on the front door.

Miss Meadows’ other son, who is 18-years-old, was on a night out in Colchester town, so she thought he may have forgotten a key.

“I had fallen asleep at about 2am - I often stay up and wait just in case my eldest gets back,” she said.

“I suddenly woke up to the sound of the door ball constantly ringing, it must have been about 2.30am.

“I saw my youngest standing in the hallway, and thought it must be my eldest had forgotten his key.

“Suddenly my son said ‘Don’t touch the door, it’s not my brother.’”

The youngster had answered the front door to find a hooded figure demanding entry to the house.

He became abusive when the brave lad refused and slammed the door in his face.

As the intruders’ anger grew, Miss Meadows acted quickly to get her son and cats into the living room, securing the door behind her.

She could hear the aggressors banging on windows, shouting and ringing the doorbell repeatedly.

They attempted to hurl a stone through the 15-year-old’s bedroom window, shattering the glass but not breaking through completely.

“We heard an almighty smash, which must have been the stone hitting the window.

“I called police and was told they would try to get straight to us.

“I could hear them outside trying to get in.

“I grabbed a hammer and my son had a hockey stick, we were afraid we would have to defend ourselves at any moment.

“It felt like forever while I was on the phone to the police.

“I was screaming, crying down the phone to them - I was terrified.

“No-one came, I was told there were a number of high priority calls that night and when the officers were on their way they were called to an emergency.

“I asked ‘is this not an emergency?’ The would-be raiders gave up after about 20 minutes and Miss Meadows spent the rest of the night a nervous wreck.

Officers never arrived and have yet to visit her home to investigate.

Miss Meadows has been left with a £200 bill for repairs to the window.

“It has been scaring me thinking what if they had gotten in, or worse still, what if they come back,” she added.

“It has affected my youngest’s confidence - he wouldn’t sleep in his room for a while and he doesn’t understand why the police didn’t come to help us.”

ESSEX Police has assured the victim of a terrifying break-in attempt that officers are investigating.

Emma Meadows says she feels “forgotten and constantly on edge” since the incident, which took place in the early hours of Saturday.

“My stepsister came round at 6.20am and could not believe the police had not attended,” she said.

“They have yet to arrive and search for evidence - a fingerprint was even left behind on the window sill.”

An Essex Police spokesman said: “Officers are investigating a report a brick was thrown through the window of a property at an address in Pearmain Way, Colchester, at around 2.45am on Saturday.

“The incident was allocated to an investigating officer on Sunday, who spoke with the victim that same morning.

“Essex Police receives about 650 emergency calls every day, in addition to about 900 calls on the non-emergency number.

“It is a key priority to reach emergency calls as soon as possible in order to help those in most need of police assistance and we assess every call based on threat, harm, risk and vulnerability. A number of factors could affect response times.

“On this day, there were a number of significant live incidents that required a high level of resource.

“Inquiries into the incident are being progressed.”