BLADE-WIELDING burglars stole cash and documents from a Melksham home yesterday evening.

At 5.15pm four intruders entered the home, on Murray Walk, with what police have described as 'bladed weapons'.

The burglars then threatened to hurt the man, in his 60s, and ordered him to give up his valuables.

He gave them keys to a safe and they removed cash and documents before they searched the rest of the house and sped off in a white Volkswagen Golf towards Forest Road.

The men were all wearing hooded tops with their faces covered.

Det Sgt Neil Le-Maire said: “Any incident which involves violence of this kind will understandably be concerning for the local community. Incidents of this nature are rare and we will be increasing our patrols in the area as a precautionary measure. If you have any concerns, please do approach officers when you see them.

“We take reports of this nature seriously and have already commenced with our enquiries to identify those responsible. Although at the early stages of our investigation, we believe this incident may have been targeted.

"This is a residential area and the incident happened as people would have no doubt been returning home from work – if you saw anything, or you captured the suspects on a dash cam, CCTV or mobile phone, please get in touch – you may not have realised at the time that it was significant.”

If you can help, call101 and quote crime reference number 54190118316.