A four-strong gang of burglars spent two hours ransacking a family home in Gants Hill on Boxing Day.

The thieves were caught on CCTV casually jumping over a garden fence at the home in Perth Road to steal gold, jewellery, money, laptops and a van containing tools worth thousands of pounds.

Sabir Ahmed, 44, said he had gone to his parent’s home with his wife and five children for a party when they struck.

He added: “When I got home at about 10.15pm, I noticed my van was missing and the lights were on so I knew something was wrong.

“When I got in the house I found they’d smashed through the back door.

“They’d gone through the kitchen cupboards and found my van keys – I had £8-9,000 of tools in there.”

Gas engineer and electrician Mr Ahmed needs the van for work and does not know how he will be able to earn money to replace it.

“I don’t know how we’re going to pay the bills,” he said. “We’re trying to put on a brave face for the kids but it’s a really bad situation.

“It’s the van that’s killing me – they stole my livelihood.”

A private CCTV camera recorded the thieves climbing over the fence and then milling around in the back garden. See the footage on our YouTube channel here.

They left the ground floor of the home mostly intact but “ransacked” rooms upstairs, leaving wardrobes overturned.

Mr Ahmed believes the gang may have been watching the house before the burglary.

“They definitely knew something,” he said.

Redbridge Police are investigating but have not yet made any arrests for the burglary on December 26 between dusk and 10.15pm.

Anyone with information should call Det Con Warren Timlett at the Redbridge Police Serious Acquisitive Crime unit on 0208 345 2669, quoting reference 4424822/13, or Crimestoppers anonymously on 0800 555 111.

Watch the CCTV footage on the Ilford Recorder YouTube channel.