ARMED thugs threatened a couple with a crowbar and knife before stealing their family Range Rover.

The couple, who wish to remain anonymous, were forced to watch four thugs break into their £40,000 vehicle while they banged on the window and screamed down the phone to police for help.

The car owner, a 39-year-old woman, said: “Me and my husband had just sat down to have a cup of tea when our Ring doorbell alerted us of movement on the driveway.

“The car alarm then started to go off, so I checked the camera to find four blokes on the driveway.

“My husband went to the front door and shouted at them: ‘What do you think you’re doing?’. He was careful not to fully go outside, and good job because they started to come towards us with what we thought was a bat.

“It turns out they were waving a crowbar and a knife at us. One man, who was wearing a surgical-looking mask, was pointing gun fingers at us.

“We shut the door and I rang 999, screaming down the phone at them to get someone here. We were banging on the window yelling at them to stop. They were so brazen and relaxed about it, just standing there staring at us even with our alarms going off which sound like police sirens. It was just outrageous.”

She added: “They finally got in after smashing the window and started the car instantly. We had to watch them drive off with not a care in the world.”

The couple are warning car owners to stay vigilant, hoping that nobody else will have to experience the ordeal they went through.

The mum-of-one, of Elizabeth Gardens, Rochford, added: “I’m just glad our 13-year-old wasn’t home, it doesn’t even bear thinking about.

“We’d already spent £800 on security and CCTV, they stole our car in front of our faces.

“I would’ve felt better if it had happened while we were asleep, it wouldn’t have been so disturbing.

“We don’t want this to happen to anyone else, it was traumatising. I’m not sleeping, I feel anxious and I can’t help but be paranoid that they might take the other car.”

An Essex Police spokesman said: “We were called at around 8.30pm on Monday with reports a vehicle was taken from the driveway in Rochford. Four men forced entry to a grey Range Rover Sport before driving off with the vehicle.” Call Rayleigh police station on 101 quoting crime reference 42/37789/20.