A MUM has told of the horrifying moment she saw a burglar trying to smash their way into her home as her daughter was inside 'scared to death'.
The woman, who was out shopping when she saw the CCTV footage on her mobile phone, told the Echo her daughter was at home at the time.
The Lordswood mum was called by her child who was scared - prompting her to watch the live footage.
The woman, who asked not to be named, said: "Around 3pm we went out for the day to buy some provisions for Ukraine and my daughter was at home by herself.
"She phoned up while we were in the shop to tell me she thought someone was in the house.
“She told me she heard a horrible noise but couldn’t describe it. We had a man on the roof to look at some loose tiles, and I told her it’s probably the man on the roof - trying to be logical about it.
“And then she told me she was really scared and it got to the point I told her if you’re honestly that scared then call the police.”
What followed continues to shake the mother and daughter to this day.
“She then turned around to me saying she could hear footsteps going up the stairs, and I was still trying to be logical, but then I looked at the security cameras.
“I looked and was absolutely horrified because we could see the guy breaking in.”
After turning on the alarm system, the man then fled the scene leaving the daughter “scared to death”.
Looking back, the mother said: “I’m just glad that at least it happened to a family that was able to cope with it rather than to an elderly neighbour in which case it could’ve ended a lot worse.”
READ MORE: Man who 'inflicted misery' on residents in spate of burglaries tracked down with DNA
People living in the area have told the Echo of their concerns about anti-social behaviour.
Tyrone Hayward's house was egged and his car’s wing mirrors damaged.
The 52-year-old from Lordswood was in his living room when he found his front window covered in egg yolk.
He said: “I was sitting in my living room and I just heard a loud bang and as I looked I saw the window with egg running down.
“I left the house and walked out to try see if there was anyone there, and then I walked all the way up to the road and I didn’t see anything.
“I was just shocked when I first heard the bang, it was a week after Halloween so it couldn’t have been that.
“It was just so surprising that we lived here for 23 years and we haven't had this before.
“When I went out [the following] morning the wing mirrors had been damaged on my car and then also on my campervan as well.”
READ MORE: Cancer sufferer's upset as wheelie bin pinched and emptied outside his home
Police said they take action on all burglaries of homes and are battling anti-social behaviour.
Inspector Brian Goodall from the Southampton Neighbourhoods Policing Team said: “Antisocial behaviour has a wide impact and can make people feel unsafe in their own community, which is why we use the different powers at our disposal to reduce it from happening.
“If someone is assaulted, this is unacceptable and we will take action, including arresting the person responsible depending on the circumstances.
“We have also recently pledged to attend every residential burglary that is reported to us because of how devastating this can be for residents.
“The powers at our disposal to reduce antisocial behaviour includes dispersal orders, which allow us to move people on from a certain area at a certain time or they can be arrested; closure orders, which can be used to shut down problem addresses; and operations targeting a specific issue where we can dedicate a larger amount of officers and draw on other specialist units, such as drones and sniffer dogs. A recent example is using officers on trail bikes in response to motorcycle-related crime in the city.
“For persistent offenders, we can issue community protection notices - and acceptable behaviour contracts for young people - to prevent offences. If they are sentenced to a crime, we can also apply for criminal behaviour orders with specific conditions that if broken constitute an offence.
“We use reports from the public to inform where and when officers go on patrol and how we use these powers, so please continue to report information to us.
“Every report gets reviewed and together we can make our city a safer place to live.”
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