A brazen intruder was chased from one Lockerbie house and minutes later tried to break into another nearby.
The home raider gained access to a property in St Bryde’s Terrace in the early hours of Tuesday and ran off when the householder disturbed him.
Mum-of-two Claire Simmonds, who got up thinking one of her children was awake, heard the thief dashing out of her back door when she switched on the hall light.
She told the Standard: “It was absolutely terrifying.
“I heard my back door opening and when I glanced over the top of the stairs he ran out.”
Claire, 42, quickly roused her husband Dan to alert him that there had been an intruder in the house.
She added: “Dan went for the first thing he could find and came back with a rolling pin and ran outside.
“He went round the perimeter checking and shouting that the police were on their way.
“The man must have been an opportunist because he was really noisy and has not taken anything of value, probably because I disturbed him too soon.
“Fortunately the kids slept through it all but your fear factor goes up so much more when kids are in the house.”
Police were at the house within 10 minutes of the call and soon after arrival they were alerted to an attempted break-in at another property in nearby Arthur’s Place.
There the man, who was dressed all in black, tried to batter open a window at the rear of the house at around 5am.
The noise woke householder Neil McLeod who went downstairs to investigate.
Father-of-three Neil told the Standard: “I was half asleep and at first thought a bird had flown into the cavity.
“I came downstairs into the dining room and there was someone hammering away at the window.
“I got quite a shock. I shouted at him and he ran away.”
Roofing company boss Neil dashed upstairs to get dressed with the intention of giving chase but the thief was long gone by the time he got to the street outside his home.
He added: “When I went outside I discovered he had also been trying to prise open the kitchen window.”
Neil contacted police and then discovered that the man had been disturbed while going through drawers at the Simmonds’ house just around the corner in St Bryde’s Terrace minutes earlier.
He said: “I couldn’t believe it. He must have been so brazen to leave one house and immediately try to get into another one.
“He was in black trackies and a black hooded top with either an Adidas or Puma logo on the front in white.”
The thief was further described as around five feet 10 inches tall and of slim build.
A scenes of crime forensics team attended the both houses to try and obtain fingerprint and DNA evidence.
Police are appealing for any witness who may have seen a man matching the description to get in touch.
“We would like to remind the public to make sure they lock their doors, don’t leave valuable property on view and report suspicious activity at the time.”
