Ben Stokes' terror as burglars raid England star's home with his young children inside

England cricket captain had his house burgled by a masked gang while his wife and two children were at home.

Stokes was away captaining as they suffered a 2-1 defeat in their Test tour of earlier this month, but his wife Clare and their two young children were in the house at the time of the break-in.

The all-rounder said his family did not come to "any physical harm", but the burglary has had an "impact on their emotional and mental state". Stokes also issued an appeal for information and shared images of some of the items that were stolen.

These included the OBE he was awarded for services to after his starring role in England's 2019 win and improbable victory over in an Test match at Headingley and a specially engraved ring with the England logo.

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In a statement on social media, Stokes wrote: "On the evening of Thursday 17th October a number of masked people burgled my home in the Castle Eden area in the North East. They escaped with jewellery, other valuables and a good deal of personal items.

"Many of those items have real sentimental value for me and my family. They are irreplaceable. This is an appeal for any help in finding these people who carried out this act. By far the worst thing about this crime is that it was carried out whilst my wife and 2 young children were in the house.

"Thankfully, none of my family came to any physical harm. Understandably, however, the experience has had an impact on their emotional and mental state. All we can think about is how much worse this situation could have been.

"I am releasing photographs of some of the stolen items - which I hope may be easily identified - in the hope that we can find the people who are responsible for this. Although we have lost cherished possessions, to be clear, my sole motivation in sharing these photographs is not the recovery of material items.

"It is to catch the people who did this. Please come forward and contact Durham Constabulary on 101 quoting crime reference CRI00575927 if you think that you have any relevant information. Finally, I want to say thank you to the police service.

"Both now and whilst I was away in Pakistan, their support for my family has been outstanding. They continue to work incredibly hard in trying to find these people."

There will be more to follow on this breaking news story and will bring you the very latest updates, pictures and video as soon as possible.

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