A DAD whose house was raided by two thieves in the middle of the night took matters into his own hands when he tackled one of them to the ground.

Liam Smith, from Farnworth, says he was sleeping in his home on Bradford Road in the early hours when he was awoken by the sound of whispering downstairs.

After realising he was being burgled, he got up and confronted the attackers.

One escaped, while the other locked Liam in a fight, attempting to stab him with a knife, he says.

The burglars came in silently through the kitchen window, damaged the back door and ransacked the property - stealing a total of around £600 worth of belongings including jewellery, watches, power tools, cash and a Regatta rucksack.

They also left behind a bag of phones and laptops, which they would have also stolen if they hadn’t been caught in the act.

Mr Smith said: “I was in bed and tackled one on the landing who tried to knife me in the neck - and then he smashed my son’s bedroom window to escape.

“He came back and stabbed me with a screwdriver and tried to tackled me again.”

Now, Mr Smith is pleading with residents to be on the lookout after a spate of incidents in the area recently.

CCTV footage from his neighbour later revealed that the thugs tried another property on the same street 10 minutes prior to the attack.

Liam, who works with ex-convicts, said: “My house was turned completely upside down, it’s still an absolute mess.

“It’ not good for my son’s development either, we’ve had to take him out of his room because it’s currently boarded up - there’s not someone immediately available to fix it.

“I work with ex-convicts, so I know how they work. I’m quite hard to rattle but I’m so glad my wife and son weren’t in the house.

“I think they were looking for the car keys, but luckily my wife had them with her on holiday.

“When I heard the whispering, I knew I was being burgled, and instinct took over.”

Police arrived at the scene within five minutes of the attack, by which time the burglars had been chased from the area.

And detectives and crime scene investigators have since been at the scene, and have been partially successful in gathering fingerprint evidence, according to Mr Smith.

He added: “There’s been a few people that have had break-ins in our area recently.”

Greater Manchester Police was unavailable for comment all of yesterday and as The Bolton News went to press.