A MOTHER has told of her terrifying fight to protect her young son when an intruder broke into her home and attacked the pair as they lay in bed.

The 31-year-old woman, who asked not to be identified, was in bed with her child, when she awoke to find a man in her room.

She screamed and the intruder lashed out with a torch in a brutal attack before fleeing. The woman was left with bruising and facial injuries. Her son was shaken but unhurt.

The attack took place in the early hours of Saturday morning at a house in East Stanley.

Speaking from her mother's house in Stanley, where she has been staying since her ordeal, she said: "I am disgusted that somebody could do this to a mother with a child lying beside her.

"I woke up and saw him trying to leave my bedroom on all fours.

"Without thinking I screamed and he attacked me by punching me in the face. He hit me again and again before he left.

"My main concern was to protect my son. He was in the bed next to me and was whimpering. He has been very brave and has coped really well."

The intruder is described as being of thin build and was wearing dark coloured clothes. Detectives believe he gained entry to the house through the back door.

He made off, empty-handed, along Wear Road, heading in the direction of the town centre.

A witness described the man running up Wear Road, passing a couple heading in the opposite direction, possibly returning from a night out in the town centre.

Police have urged that couple to come forward and would also like to hear from other people in the area at the time who may have seen the man.

He is described as between 25 and 40, 5ft 8in, of slim build, wearing a dark wax-type jacket, dark trousers and dark woolly hat.

Det Con Chris Bentham, of Stanley CID, said: "This was a nasty incident.

"We have this sighting of him running away at around 1am.

"There may well have been other people in the Stanley area, coming home in taxis maybe from nights out, who saw this figure running towards the town centre."

Anyone with information is asked to contact Stanley CID on (01207) 232144, or the Crimestoppers freephone line (0800) 555111.