A BRAZEN burglar forced his way into a home in broad daylight while someone worked upstairs before snatching car keys and making off with a vehicle.

Stephen Le-Gate arrived home to find his Ford Fiesta missing from outside his in Cedars Road, Colchester, on Wednesday.

It emerged that crooks had sneaked into the house and grabbed the car keys before scarpering at some point in the afternoon.

Mr Le-Gates’s housemate was working from home at the time, and it is believed the raider heard him and grabbed what he could before fleeing.

“Our housemate heard a wheel spin this afternoon and didn’t think anything of it,” he said.

“They had somehow entered the house to take the keys too, including the spare.

“This is usually a safe, friendly area.”

Mr Le-Gate said they had initially thought the keys had been hooked through the letterbox but had later seen markings which look like the door was forced.

He said: “The burglar forced entry through the front door as there are marks on the outside joining and inside where the locks are.

“It is a door you cannot open from the outside because our lodger was in, we didn’t think to lock it.

“That made it easier to open with some tools, I guess.

“We have reported to the police.

“At first we couldn’t see any damage as it was midnight when they came and there are no streetlights so they assumed they used a hook to get the keys.

“The next morning we noticed the marks on the door so we reported to the police.

“Our lodger works in a call centre and was working in the front bedroom upstairs and we think the burglar must have heard him and just took the first thing he could see.

“Our neighbour described someone exactly to the police and they said he was seen heading in the direction of Clacton.

“It is shocking to see that they broke in during the day and were maybe planning to take more.

“We are still waiting for the police to contact us back about the breaking and entering.”

Anyone who saw anything, or has any information about a black Ford Fiesta with registration number BG56 ZPV should call Essex Police on 101.

Details can also be given to Crimestoppers anonymously on 0800 555111 or online at crimestoppers-uk.org.