THIEVES broke into Margo Grimshaw’s home yesterday.

The Lancashire Telegraph columnist was on her way home from Manchester after a day at Royal Ascot when she received a call from a friend that her burglar alarm had gone off.

Her son Andrew had left their home off Preston New Road, Blackburn, around 4.15pm to pick her up.

Around half an hour later Margo got the call about a break-in.

She said thieves had forced open a small window of the big lounge at the back of her home but fled empty-handed when the alarm sounded and the dogs chased them.

Margo said: “I think the alarm scared them off. I don’t think anything has been taken.

"I hope they catch them. This always makes people feel vulnerable in their own home, it’s an invasion of privacy.”