A COUPLE discovered burglars had ransacked their house after their alarm sent a message through to their mobile phones.

Sheridan Hodgson and her partner Joe Murphy, from Colne Engaine, were at work when they found they had automated calls on their phones.

They had their house alarm connected to the phones and hoped the calls were a mistake.

Mr Murphy, 62, raced to their home in Pebmarsh Road after work to find the front door had been tampered with.

Miss Hodgson, 54, said: "They had thrown a brick through the patio doors and there were muddy footprints upstairs.

"They had opened and emptied all the wardrobes and cupboards in all the rooms upstairs and they took all my jewellery, which they had put into a pillowcase."

She said necklaces, rings and earrings to a total value of about £5,000 were stolen.

She said: "I was really upset, so was Joe. I felt more upset for him because he had discovered it.

"It was very unsettling and was a horrible feeling."

She said she was grateful to have had the technology set up so they were notified as soon as possible.

She said: "What we would do now is call the police straight away, as we thought it may have been a false alarm.

"The benefit was they went in and out quickly because of the alarm, they could have done more damage and taken more things."

She did say extra security measures may not be enough to deter burglars, and still feels shaken up.

She said: "If they are determined to get in they will do, we are quite isolated so we considered CCTV but that wouldn't prevent it.

"I was on my own for the first time last weekend and felt really uncomfortable."

Police have been made aware of the burglary, which happened on June 2 at about 5pm, and ask anyone with information to call 101.