MASKED burglars smashed their way into the home of an 84-year-old woman and threatened her with a bottle.

The elderly victim endured a 30-minute ordeal as three men took it in turns to search the upstairs of the house in Wivenhoe.

She tried to shout to neighbours for help but was forced to sit on her sofa throughout.

Speaking on behalf of his mother-in-law, Edward Tsang said: "She tried to call out for help through a window but she couldn't open it.

"She could feel someone forcing it to stay shut from outside.

"We know there were at least three men but we're not sure if there were more outside waiting in a car.

"Everytime she made a movement or tried to escape they would stand in front of her and shove a bottle in her face."

The burglars, believed to be in their thirties or forties, broke into the home through a back door on Wednesday at 8pm.

The victim said the men were wearing masks and had hoods when they broke into the house in Broome Grove.

Police say they made off with gold jewellery and cash but Mr Tsang said he and his family are not sure if anything else had been stolen because forensic teams were yet to visit the home.

He and his wife live just five minutes away and ran to the scene after receiving a "strange" phone call from his mother-in-law.

He said: "We got the call from her when the men left but she didn't actually say anything because she was so terrified.

"It was a strange phone call. We thought she'd had a fall, so we ran over here to see what was going on and when we got here we saw the mess.

"She was very upset when we got here - it's terrifying to think anyone would want to do this to an 84-year-old woman."

The victim has lived at the home since 2009 and she had never had any problems before.

He said: "We've always thought it be completely safe until we started to hear about burglaries around a year ago."

An Essex Police spokesman said: "Enquiries are ongoing and we would like to speak to anyone who saw three men acting suspiciously in the area shortly before and after the incident.

"We’d also like to speak to anyone who is offered gold jewellery for sale is suspicious about where it came from."

"The men were described as being in their thirties to forties and wore T-shirts and jeans."

Anyone with information can call Det Con Hannah Richardson at Colchester CID on 101 or Crimestoppers anonymously on 0800 555 111 or at crimestoppers-uk.org.