A GRANDMOTHER told last night how she woke up to find a machete-wielding raider had crept into her bedroom.

Kathleen Bryson fears she will never feel safe in her own home again after coming face-to-face with the armed burglar as she lay in her bed.

The 62-year-old was fast asleep when the hooded teen smashed his way through the back door of her home, in Catchgate, near Stanley, County Durham.

And before she knew what was happening he was standing over her demanding cash while brandishing the foot-long knife.

Yesterday, as detectives hunt the raider who struck during the early hours of Saturday morning, Kathleen told of her terrifying ordeal.

And the grandmother-of-five said she cannot shake the image of the knifeman, who she pictures every time she closes her eyes.

“When I close my eyes now I can still see him standing there,” she said. “You should be able to feel safe in your own home but I don’t anymore. The worst thing was him coming into my bedroom. That is my personal space, and you just feel violated.”

Kathleen had been asleep for just over an hour when she was woken by a loud bang, at about 1.30am, on Saturday. Startled by the noise she turned on her bedside lamp and was about to go and investigate when suddenly her bedroom door opened and she was faced with an image that will stay with her for the rest of her life.

Dressed in black with a hood on and a scarf pulled over the bottom of his face, the intruder entered her room carrying a huge curved blade.