A family says their Christmas was 'spoiled' after their front window was smashed during the early hours of Christmas Eve. The Long Eaton family spent Christmas Eve having their window boarded up and cleaning after their living room was covered in lager and shards of glass.
The family was woken up at around 3.45am on December 24 by the sound of their front window being smashed. From looking at CCTV footage, the family was shocked to see an individual throwing two glass bottles at their house - one empty and the other full of lager.
The mum-of-three of the family, who asked not to be named, said: "My partner heard a bang and thought it was the cats downstairs - we have three cats and thought they had done something - and then we heard a massive smash. Luckily my Christmas tree and the net curtain was there so it caught a lot of the lager from the glass, but it must have come from some force as it was a strengthened double glaze window."
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From looking at the CCTV footage, she explained that a van went past their home before turning around and going past again, when a man got out. The mum said: "Basically you can see the bottle being thrown once, and then the second one being thrown again.
"One of them was empty, I think that was the one that bounced and went into the front garden. The second one was full because it went through and we had some Christmas presents under, and when we opened them on Christmas Day you could smell the lager."
The 42-year-old described the man as "laughing" as he got back into the van, and believes there might have been someone else in the vehicle with him driving. She explained that the incident has made her family feel targeted but they don't know why, as they have only lived in the area for around a year and keep to themselves.
She said: "I just don't want it to happen again. I'm very thankful that something bad didn't happen to one of the kids or the pets. It's just lucky that the tree was in the way.
"I don't know whether someone has just done it to inconvenience us." Following the incident, the family had the window boarded up by Nottingham Glass, whose staff got there for 8am.
The finance worker added: "To say it was Christmas Eve and an emergency they were absolutely amazing." However, despite the window being boarded up, the mum explained that it has been 'absolutely freezing' due to the large window being broken, and that they can't put the heating on as 'it would just go out the window'.
She added: "It's just been rubbish. It is what it is, it could have been worse, someone could have been hurt." Due to not knowing the reason for the incident, the family has been at home over the festive period 'for safety reasons' as they feel they can't go out in case something else happens.
The family is urging residents in the area to check their CCTV and doorbell cameras if they have any. A spokesperson for Derbyshire Police has said: "The force received a report that the front window of a house in Myrtle Avenue, Long Eaton, was damaged at around 3.45am on 24 December after a bottle was thrown at it by an unknown person.
"Anyone who has any information that may be of assistance is asked to contact the force with reference 22000749713."
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