PETROL was poured through a pregnant woman's letterbox in an apparent attempt to burn down her house.

Fuel was also splashed over her front door, while a soaked rag was pushed through the letterbox.

Luckily, the culprits were disturbed before they could light the petrol and ran off.

Now the pregnant woman and her family, who we are not naming, have urged witnesses to come forward.

The victim's mother said the attack happened between 2pm and 4pm on Wednesday in the Heathfield Road area of Ellesmere Port.

We are not revealing the exact address to safeguard the family.

She added: 'We have no idea why anyone would do this to my daughter's house. Fortunately, she was not in at the time and no-one was hurt.

'But she is now scared stiff to go back there in case the offender comes back and tries to do this again.

'We called the police and got an incident number. They were unable to take fingerprints off the rag.

'Officers said it was probably kids messing about because it's nearly Hallowe'en. But we don't think it's children. Where would children get hold of that amount of petrol?

'We think it was someone else but noone was seen in the area acting suspiciously. So we are appealing for witnesses to come forward and help us.'

Ellesmere Port police asked witnesses to contact them, in confidence, on 01244 350222 or the Crimestoppers hotline on 0800 555111.