A TERRIFIED mother sent two suspected burglars packing after finding them in her home with her three children.

Sam Locker, 30, runs the Sandbank Restaurant, in London Road, Leigh, and lives in a flat above the business with her husband, Matthew, and her children.

She went upstairs to see her children before bedtime, at about 8pm on Mothers’ Day, but was horrified to discover the men in her home where threeyear- old Harry was in bed and four-year-old Daniel was watching a movie, with her 16-year-old step-daughter Sophie.

She stood her ground and the men ran off empty handed.

She said: “It was really scary, especially knowing my children were in there.

“One guy was in the doorway with his back to me, so I pushed the door open, he turned round and asked ‘is this the hotel?’ then him and his mate, who must’ve been in our office, were straight past me and down the stairs before I knew it.

“I checked on the boys and then ran after them, but they were round the corner and in a car so quickly. It was so dark I couldn’t see the number plate.”

Mrs Locker described one of the men as being “tall, wide, bald and British”. The second man was smaller than the first.

She thinks the men gained access through an unlocked gate before picking the combination lock to open the front door to the flat. Following a spate of burglaries in six pubs across Southend, Rayleigh and Benfleet last month, Mrs Locker has spoken to their owners and thinks the culprits may be the same.

She added: “My purse, an iPad and some cash were all near the door, but they didn’t take those, they must have been looking for the takings.

“We were burgled in 2012 and they took the whole safe.

“It’s horrible to think it’s happened again, and especially with the children inside.”

Mr and Mrs Locker have CCTV of the incident which they are in the process of passing on to the police, who were called to the scene at 9.15pm.

A spokesman for Essex Police said: “The occupant found two men, who had entered the property through a secure door, standing in the hallway. The men then left and nothing was stolen.

“Inquiries are continuing. Anyone with any information is asked to call police on 101.”