THE occupants of a house in Birkenhead were threatened with a knife during a burglary earlier this morning.

Police were called at 12.20am after reports that three males wearing balaclavas had broken into a house on Borough Road.

One of the gang was armed with a knife and threats were directed towards the occupants, which included a young child. A man and woman were also assaulted during the incident.

The offenders made off with a quantity of cash and jewellery.

An investigation is underway and house-to-house and CCTV enquiries are being carried out in the local area.

Detective Inspector Tony O’Brien said: "This was clearly a distressing incident for the occupiers of this property.

"Thankfully they were not seriously injured but were obviously left visibly shaken by their ordeal.

"I know that there will be people out there who know who this group of men are and I would urge them to come forward and give us names as they deserve to be behind bars.

"I would appeal for anyone who was in the area of Borough Road at around midnight last night who saw or heard anything suspicious to contact us.

"I am particularly appealing for any taxi or delivery drivers to check their dash cam to see if they captured anything significant.

"Please come forward and speak to us, or pass on the information anonymously via Crimestoppers."

If you have any information about anyone acting suspiciously in the vicinity of homes or businesses, or being in possession of suspected stolen goods, contact Merseyside Police's social media desk on Twitter @MerPolCC or Facebook ‘Merseyside Police Contact Centre’.

You can also contact Crimestoppers anonymously on 0800 555 111 or pass information via their secure online form at: https://crimestoppers-uk.org/give-information/forms/give-information-anonymously

Anyone with information about this incident is asked to DM @MerPolCC or @CrimestoppersUK on 0800 555 111 quoting reference 22000060136.

Crime prevention advice can be found at: www.merseyside.police.uk/cp/crime-prevention/