A YOUNG mum has spoken out after her house was targeted during a burglary spree which saw 18 homes hit in just a week.

Essex Police have announced it will be carrying out spot checks on known criminals and stepping up patrols in problem areas. It comes after the Echo revealed last week how £70,000 of property was stolen in Wickford after ten homes were burgled in just four days.

The week before five properties were broken into in Billericay. Raiders targeted Nicola Jenkins’ house in Somercotes, Laindon, on Sunday evening and stole her two-yearold son’s presents from under the family’s Christmas tree.

They also took Miss Jenkins’s jewellery box. The 21-year-old said: “The burglars got in by popping open the front door.

“They had been through my house and into my bedroom where there was a picture of me and my son next to my bed – so they knew exactly who they were taking from.

“They are just disgusting.”

Miss Jenkins has now decided to move her family away from Laindon.

An Essex Police spokesman said they were targeting known criminals as part of a campaign against the seasonal increase in burglary in the run-up to Christmas.

He said: “This includes targeted patrols in areas which have experienced burglaries to provide additional reassurance and act as a deterrent.

“We need people to help us by taking sensible precautions to protect their homes and give us the information and intelligence we need to put the criminals before the courts.“ ! For more information, visit the burglary prevention section of the Essex Police website at www.essex.police.uk/be_safe/bu rglary.aspx or call your local police station for further advice.