Thieves take £1m in items from Cilla house

Masked raiders who held a knife to the throat of TV personality Cilla Black's youngest son escaped with more than £1 million …

Masked raiders who held a knife to the throat of TV personality Cilla Black's youngest son escaped with more than £1 million sterling worth of jewellery, cash and gold.

The collection included gifts from late husband Bobby Willis.

Former Blind Datehost Cilla said it was "heartbreaking" to lose the items but that it did not compare to the ordeal her son Jack (22) had endured.

Cilla said: "I am just so grateful he is alive and slowly coming to terms with what has happened.

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Cilla was away from her Buckinghamshire home when the burglary occurred on Saturday around midnight.Three men wearing balaclavas broke into the house where Jack was alone watching TV in his bedroom.

The intruders scaled a perimeter fence and forced open a ground floor window. Jack heard banging on his bedroom door and assumed it was his brother Ben, who was to due stay the night after attending a nearby wedding.

When he realised they were intruders he tried to shut the door but they forced it open and attacked him with a crowbar.

Jack was made to lie down with his hands cuffed behind his back, while one of the burglars held a hunting knife to his throat.

PA