A family has called for tougher security at a Bradford pensioners' complex after burgling yobs raided an 82-year old woman for the THIRD time.

Grandmother Lerener Richardson went to confront intruders when she was alerted at 2.45am by her dog Sam - but the burglars barricaded themselves in to her living room while they plundered her property.

And her furious family - who hoped she would be well protected in the purpose-built Great Horton complex - are now calling for security to be bolstered.

"They had pushed my sofa up against the living room door so I couldn't get in there to the telephone," she said. "I wasn't frightened, I was just angry. I think I have had more than my fair share of this."

Her son Robin said: "I am very upset, it's the third time she's been burgled. It happened at 2.45am when she was in bed. She had never been burgled, all her life, until she moved to this sheltered housing complex six years ago. You feel sheltered housing is protection, but she may as well live on the roughest council estate in Bradford. I feel I've put her on the front line.

"What's the point of sheltered housing, what are the benefits? I don't understand why they call it that.

"She lost her video recorder, a purse and some money, and some personal things, a vase and ornaments. My mother says two other flats further down were done at the same time."

Very Breary, of the housing association which runs the complex, said around £8,000 had been spent on security lighting at the premises after an earlier spate of incidents. "We have organised for local contractors to fit window sensor alarms as a temporary measure in Mrs Richardson's home," she added.

She said each flat was connected to a 24-hour alarm system and residents could contact housing association staff via their helplines in an emergency.

PC Barry Thorn, crime prevention officer for Odsal police, said: "Break-ins at sheltered housing complexes in the Great Horton and Little Horton areas are a problem. Once the burglars have broken in to a particular style of window and know how easy it is, a crimewave occurs."

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