A DISTRAUGHT woman has been the victim of SIX burglaries in FIVE months.

Sonja Ashcroft, left, of Pilmuir Road, has blasted Blackburn with Darwen Council for refusing to allow her to move house despite a catalogue of attacks on her home - ending in a New Year's Day raid by burglars.

Sonja, who lives on her own, said her life had been a "living hell" since she came to the town in 1998 from her native Manchester.

She has been sleeping with a knife and a heavy weight near her bed in case of a break in and when she goes out she has been pushing the settee up to the door to provide an extra obstacle for burglars.

And after the latest incident, she is considering moving away from the area because of the "uncaring" way she has been dealt with by the council.

She said: "New Year's Day was the final straw. I returned home at 9pm to discover yet another break-in during which necklaces with sentimental value were stolen.

"At the moment I just have no life. I feel like I'm being targeted and the council just don't seem to want to know. I've had a window boarded up for some time now and all the council can say is that it may take up to six weeks to sort out.

"When I tell people about the list of attacks there have been they find it hard to believe."

The first attack happened on Easter Sunday when a couple of three feet tall statues were stolen from Ms Ashcroft's garden. Since then the catalogue of horror includes:

August 17: The garden shed was broken into and everything inside stolen.

August 21: House broken into with jewellery a video and items belonging to Mrs Ashcroft's later father being taken.

October 1: Car broken into, smashed up and ransacked.

Later in October: Wing mirrors knocked off the car.

December 20: Eleven different taxi firms call at Ms Ashcroft's house within the space of 40 minutes.

New Years Day: A hoard of items including a valued necklace from Bahrain stolen.

Deputy Director of Housing at Blackburn town hall, Gwyneth Sarkar, said: "An investigation has been instigated into Mrs Ashcroft's complaints and I can assure her that these matters are being looked into. At this stage I feel I cannot comment any further than that."

Police said they were aware of all the incidents.

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