A TERRIFIED woman told how she woke up to find a stranger trying to climb through her bedroom window.

Karen Hicks, 44, sleeps on the ground floor of her house in Rectory Road, Rochford.

She went to investigate after being woken up by a noise at 1.30am on Friday.

To her horror, a man was trying to break into her house.

The hairdresser said: “I am a very light sleeper.

“At about 1.30am I heard a noise which sounded like the wind going through the blinds coming from the lounge.

“I thought is was strange as I don’t usually hear that noise, and not coming from the lounge.

“I went in and there was a light being held to the window from a lighter.

“Someone was trying to see what they were doing.

“I realised that someone was trying to break into the house.”

The man was standing on a wheelie bin trying to climb in through the window.

Ms Hicks rushed to the window and started shouting and punching out to stop the man from making his way inside.

He fell back onto the ground, before getting up and running off around the corner.

The old fashioned-style window had been left on the latch - but the burglar had managed to life it up and open the window fully so he could get inside.

Ms Hicks added: “He could really run, so I think he must have been young.

“I opened the window and I was screaming and screaming.

“It was absolutely terrifying. I was so scared.

“Because the street lights are off it was pitch black outside.

“All I could only see that he was wearing a grey tracksuit and was about 5ft 10ins.”

She said she is lucky she discovered him before he got inside the property.

Ms Hicks immediately called the police and praised them for their quick reactions.

She said: “I was hyperventilating down the phone but there was a police car with us in two minutes.

“They said there were another three or four cars in the area as well.

“The police were absolutely brilliant.”

The police were able to get fingerprints from the windowsill - and Ms Hicks is hopeful that they will be able to catch the culprit.

She added: “The forensics team came and they showed me how he had lifted up the window.

“I have driven round with my sister looking for someone in a grey tracksuit.”

Streetlights are switched off by Essex County Council between 1am and 5am as part of money saving measures.

Anyone with information can call Essex Police on 101, or Crimestoppers anonymously on 0800 555 111.