Essex Police is warning people to be on their guard after a spate of break-ins across the Halstead area.
Between 9am and 3.30pm last Tuesday, five homes were broken in to via rear doors or windows.
In most cases jewellery has been stolen.
They occurred in Tidings Hill, Halstead, three in Mill Road, Ridgewell, and one in The Causeway, also in Ridgewell.
Nothing was stolen from the house in The Causeway.
The 78-year-old resident of the house in Tidings Hill which was broken into said this was the second time she had been broken into, the first time being in 1987.
“The burglars only took about £7 in small change," she said.
“They also took a silver bracelet, two pairs of earings which belonged to my great aunt and a gold locket."
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