A FRUSTRATED family are putting their Basingstoke home up for sale because they are fed-up with being targeted by burglars.

Despite spending nearly £700 on security measures, the Purser family have been unable to stop persistent thieves raiding their property in Abbey Road, Popley.

Today, Diane Purser, 35, and her husband Martin, 37, were getting their home valued and have set their sights on moving to another part of town.

The final straw came when their shed was broken into for the third time this year.

Diane told The Gazette: "We've lived here for five years but we've decided we're going to move after Christmas because of all this."

The couple's shed was broken into for the first time in January when a new Saracen Trial bike, given as a Christmas present to their 14-year-old son Jake, was stolen along with another bike.

Following the theft, the couple - who also have a daughter, Kaeli, 15 - put a lock on the back gate and shed, erected a sturdy seven foot fence, and later put an alarm and even bigger lock on the shed.

However, in May thieves unscrewed the hinges on the double doors of the shed and pulled them off. Fortunately, the alarm censor went off and the offenders were forced to flee empty-handed.

Just when the family thought the extra security had worked, the raiders - believed by the police to be the same ones as before - returned and were this time equipped to deal with the alarm.

An off-road scrambler bike, red with the number eight on each side and on the front plate over the white mud guards, as well as an electric blue bike seat, was stolen despite having a chain wrapped around it and the spark plug cap taken off to immobilise it.

"I am disgusted and appalled that we did everything we possibly could to stop these burglars and still they can get to us under our very noses," said Diane.

She added: "I hope these horrible people know one day exactly what it feels like to a 14-year-old boy when he loses everything that means anything to him."

Explaining the decision to put their home up for sale, Diane said: "It used to be a really nice area until about a year ago.

"A man two doors away from us had his brick wall kicked down.

"He spent about £600 putting a new one up then two days later the same thing happened. You can't win. I want to live somewhere we can feel safe."

Anyone with information that might help the police inquiries into the raids on the Purser family home is urged to contact Basingstoke police on 0845 045 45 45 or the Crimestoppers hotline of 0800 555 111.