THREE masked raiders subjected a woman to a terrifying ordeal when they burst into her bedroom in the early hours and demanded her jewellery.

The 60-year-old woman was in the bedroom of her house in New Line, Bacup, when the three men forced open her back door and burst into her bedroom.

Police said the men forced their way into the house between 6.30am and 7am on Friday.

Detective Sergeant Andy Gilbert said: "The men barged into her bedroom and demanded that she hand over all her jewellery.

"They didn't threaten her but they told her to be quiet and do as they said, which she did. The woman said the men spoke with Irish accents, which we are keeping an open mind about because they may have been putting the accents on to disguise their own accents.

"The lady was was left extremely shaken by the ordeal which is a terrible thing to happen to anybody, especially a woman who was on her own. She has been very brave and dialled 999 as soon as she was sure they had left the house."

Gold rings and gold chains were just some of the items of jewellery stolen from the house.

He added: "The jewellery was of sentimental value to the woman who is desperate to get it back."

Police are making door to door inquiries in a bid to trace any witnesses who were up and about at that time in the morning.

Det Sgt Gilbert added: "We are confident that there were people around at that time and we need to speak to anybody who may have been up and about and may have seen anything suspicious."

He said: "At this moment in time we are not sure if the offenders made off on foot or if a getaway car was used. We would like anybody who maybe able to help with our inquiries to get in touch."

Anybody with information about the incident is urged to contact Rawtenstall CID on 01706 237440 or Crimestoppers 0800 555 111.