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Frightened residents are sending out stark warnings after finding a “woman crying through their letter boxes” in the early hours of the morning.

People living across Kirkby said they suspect it to be “part of a trick where you open the door to let the woman in and someone barges in to rob you”.

Bec Edmunds spoke to the ECHO about an incident at her home in Burnard Crescent at 4.30am on Saturday, July 15.

The mum-of-one said: “Someone was knocking at my door but I ignored it. I woke up and my back gate was open.

“The old lady living over the road said the same thing happened but a lady was crying at hers saying she had no money.

“Luckily the lady told her there was a police station over the road and she went.”

Scores of other residents living around the area have also posted on social media and contacted Bec about the same issue.

One woman wrote on Facebook : “Around 2am on Friday morning we heard banging on our door but I was too scared to go down.

“I stopped my boyfriend going down because I was shaking. You just don’t expect it.”

Another said: “Oh my god. On Saturday morning a woman knocked at 4am and wanted the loo. She said she was stuck in Liverpool.”

And a third woman posted: “Happened to me too, at about 4am someone was knocking at my door. I never opened it.”

Bec says she “no longer feels safe” living in her own home.

She said: “It’s awful, knowing that this lady came to mine is scary.

“I feel like she’s going to come back and knowing she went through my back gate is even worse.

“This street is normally quiet and we have really good neighbours who stick together but I don’t feel safe anymore.

“For this to happen is such a shock as you don’t expect it. I fear for my little boy.”

The Kirkby resident also wants to tell people to “be careful and don’t open the door” if something like this happens to you as she “doesn’t think the crying woman is alone in this”.

Merseyside Police said: “We received a call from a lady telling us that her mother who lives in Kirkby, had been disturbed in the early hours of the morning by a woman who knocked on her front door for over an hour.

“The woman was shouting ‘help me, let me in, I’ve got nowhere to go’ but the lady didn’t let the woman in.”

Police added that the incident started 3.30am and continued until approximately 5am.

Following the incident officers from Kirkby police station have visited the lady to give her advice on safety in the home.

Anyone who witnessed the incident or who knows who the woman is, is asked to call Merseyside Police on 101.