A BURGLARY victim has added her voice to a new police campaign urging people to protect their properties.

Mum-of-two Natalie Starr has recorded five videos telling of her ordeal, which West Yorkshire Police have released on their website.

Mrs Starr’s house was burgled while she was walking her dog with her children, aged four and five. She received a call from one of her neighbours to say she had seen her car being driven away, and returned home to find her house ransacked.

She said: “The biggest upset was actually going through the babies’ things and going through the children’s rooms and thinking there might be something expensive in a toy box or a baby’s memory box. The thing that was actually the most disturbing was when you realise somebody has been in your house.”

Mrs Starr, 35, has now set up a Neighbourhood Watch group.

As part of their new campaign, West Yorkshire Police have put together simple crime prevention advice to help homeowners protect their possessions, backed by a poster campaign.

The three messages are to always remember to lock the door, leave a light on upstairs, and to always set the burglar alarm.

Mrs Starr said: “I didn’t ever believe it would happen to me. I thought I lived in a very safe place, I’m at home a lot and felt very secure.

“We had always talked about adding additional security but felt safe enough for it not to be top of the priority list. They were in the house for 19 minutes, and went through 11 rooms, every cupboard and drawer and the baby boxes to see if anything valuable was in there.

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“The impact has been far more than I ever anticipated.

“After the burglary I was a little scared to be in the house on my own at night. I became a bit neurotic about locking doors behind me and making sure every door was locked in the house.

“We have ordered new gates to make sure it is not so open to see our children playing in the front garden, because you start to worry about other things happening to you as well.”

Police are not revealing the location of Mrs Starr’s home.

See all five videos here.