An axe-wielding gang forced their way into a family's home then bound and gagged a terrified mum and her daughter.

Renu Bansal, 47, and her 22-year-old daughter had their hands and legs tied up and were gagged with tape as the gang ransacked their home in Aireville Avenue, Frizinghall.

The three intruders, two wearing masks, hit Mrs Bansal in the face three or four times as they became increasingly desperate to find jewellery and money.

Mrs Bansal's nine-year-old son watched throughout the 20-minute ordeal as the men continually threatened the women and demanded to know where the valuables were kept.

Mrs Bansal was later taken to hospital with a suspected broken nose and cuts and bruises around her eyes. Her nose continued to bleed at intervals throughout yesterday and she will have to return to hospital for an x-ray once the swelling has gone down. The gang escaped with a small quantity of jewellery and money after the raid at 5.45pm on Wednesday.

Mrs Bansal said: "They brought an axe with them and hit it on the chair to threaten us to get us to tell them where we kept the cash and jewellery. I told them I didn't have any.

"They went upstairs and ransacked the house and they found some things, but they wanted to know where the rest was.

"They gagged my daughter for five minutes and she couldn't breath. When I told them she couldn't breath, they pulled off the tape really violently.

"They hit me in the face three or four times and dragged me off the sofa. When I started bleeding I started yelling to try to frighten them off. They panicked and went after that."

Mrs Bansal's husband Vijay Bansal, a self-employed mortgage adviser, said: "I was coming home from work when my daughter called me and she was crying. She said my wife was bleeding and told me what had happened. She said are you all right?' "I think I was their target and it was me they were after because I usually get home from work at that time. It was lucky I wasn't there."

Detective Inspector Peter Craig, of Keighley CID, said: "The mother and daughter were tied up while Mr Bansal was away form the premises. The nine-year-old son was there but was not harmed at all. They demanded money. Our investigation is ongoing and we would like to hear from anyone who was in the Aireville Avenue area on Wednesday tea-time and might have seen anything suspicious.

"The thought is that the men had gone there to wait for Mr Bansal to get home from work at 6pm, for whatever reason. But they left before he returned. Why they left we don't know."

All three suspects were described as Asian and about 5ft 10in tall. Two were wearing balaclavas and the one without a balaclava is described as being in his mid-20s, with dark short hair and unshaven.

Anyone with information is asked to call Keighley CID on (01535) 6170 e-mail will.kilner@bradford.newsquest.co.uk