A MUM and dad have been left feeling "violated" after a burglar raided their home at night - as their 10-year-old daughter slept.

Ian Surgenor, 51, from Acomb, York, his wife Marie-Louise, 44, and their daughter, Mollie, 10, were asleep in the early hours of March 10 when someone broke into their home.

Ian, a taxi driver in York, said he noticed that the patio door was wide open when he woke up and that several items had gone.

He said: “I woke up at 5am to get a glass of water and I noticed that my jacket was on the floor and the cupboard was wide open but I was none the wiser at the time.

“When I came downstairs in the morning, I noticed that the patio door was left wide open and realised that several things were missing.

“All my weekend takings from work were stolen. My wallet was also taken as well as Marie’s handbag and purse and Mollie’s school bag, totalling about £630.

“I spoke to a neighbour who was awake at the time. He said that he had noticed someone in his garden at around 4.30am but the person noticed him so he jumped over the fence."

Ian said his wife's alarm on her phone had gone off at 4.30am, which may have spooked the burglar.

When he went downstairs there were still other valuable items left on the table including his and his daughter's laptops.

Ian said: “It's probably fortunate because If he had still been in the house when I went downstairs for a drink I don’t know what I would of done.

“As a working class family, making our own way, losing £630 is annoying as we would never take what isn’t ours. But what makes it more upsetting is how violated we all feel that someone could enter our home, a place where you feel your safest, and take your items whilst you are asleep.

“My daughter kept asking if the burglar was going to return.

“She is okay now but for the following few days it really spooked her

“This is not the type of environment I want her to grow up in.”

Mr Surgenor warned other residents in Acomb and throughout York to keep their doors locked.

He said: “It seems like it was an opportunist so I plead to you all, lock all your doors at night and make sure you have some security lights and if you see someone loitering around then call the police.

“I wish these things didn’t happen to anybody.”

In a statement, North Yorkshire Police said officers were alerted to a burglary in York at 6.55am on Monday, March 11.

It said: “Thieves had gained entrance to the property overnight and stole a handbag, a purse, a wallet and an amount of cash.

“Police are continuing their inquiries and would appeal to anyone in the local area who saw anyone or anything which raised their suspicions to contact them.” Call 101 and speak to the Force Control Room, quoting reference 12190043909.