Raid leaves mum and daughter too scared to return to their Blackpool home

The 22-year-old, who has asked for her name to be witheld, and her daughter were kept in their living room by one robber, while another searched upstairs for cash.

The men are now wanted by police, who found vital evidence during a forensic search of their home in Banks Street, North Shore.

The woman said she is now too scared to return, and made an emotional plea for those with any information to come forward.

She said: “It’s ruined my daughter’s start in life and I feel I have failed her because it’s my job to keep her safe. It’s going to scar her.”

She said she had just woken up from a nap on her sofa when she heard her front door open and footsteps running up the stairs, at around 10am on Wednesday.

Half-awake and thinking it was her mum, she looked up to see a man wearing gloves, a balaclava, and a tatty Blackpool FC jacket with paint on it.

He looked ‘fidgety and scared’ – and even told her not to cry after stepping inside the living room and closing the door behind him, she said.

“His eyes were watering. He didn’t want to be there. I got up at one point and went to walk out because I didn’t feel threatened.

“He just moved himself in front of the door and said, ‘No’. He could’ve had anything on him and I did not want to risk anything with my daughter there.

“I don’t think she understood what was going on. She stood there and looked at him and said, ‘You’re mean, are you taking my stuff?’

“I told him he had a choice to be there. He said he didn’t.”

The 22-year-old said the man, around 5ft 8ins in height and with distinctive blue eyes, finally left when the other raider – who she never saw – came down the stairs, opened the front door, and whistled.

They fled, taking around £50 in cash, a Pandora bracelet with charms, and a Gucci compact mirror, but left other items, including a Playstation and iPad.

Now staying at her mum’s one-bedroomed flat nearby, she said she thinks she may have been targeted, but is unsure why.

She added: “It’s like they knew where they were coming. I don’t know if they were told something. They said they were looking for money and I said if they found out where it was, could they let me know! I’m just a mum. Why me?”

Call police on 101 with information.