Neighbours spoke of their shock after a woman and her child were threatened with a meat cleaver by a man who broke into their house in Ellesmere Port.
The 28-year-old was at home with her young daughter at around 2pm on Thursday when the man knocked on the door.
He forced his way into the house in Brancepeth Court, demanding cash and making threats while brandishing the weapon.
As there was no cash at the property, the man took other items including a games console, mobile phone and tablet device before leaving.
One shocked neighbour, who would not give her name, said she knew of elderly residents who were too scared to answer her front door.
She said: “I feel very sorry for her. This is not a good area. It was nice a few years ago but there have been a lot of burglaries. We had gold jewellery taken from our house last year.
“My husband doesn’t like to leave the house after dark.”
A dog walker in the street said: “It’s awful. I’ve lived here ten years and the people here are nice but you get all sorts passing through because of being near the town centre.
“It’s a horrible thing to happen and I hope the poor lady is ok.”
Police said the woman was uninjured, but was left shaken.
Cheshire Police said it was believed to be an isolated incident.
The man is white, around 5ft 11in tall, of medium build and around 30 years old. He had brown eyes, dark eyebrows, and was unshaven with a grey complexion.
He wore a dark woolly hat, grey tracksuit top, blue jeans and dark trainers. He also wore dark woollen gloves and left carrying a plastic Aldi carrier bag containing the stolen items.
Anyone with information is urged to call 101, quoting incident 422 of January 22, 2015. Alternatively you can call Crimestoppers anonymously on 0800 555 111.
