A WINSFORD woman is scared to return home after an 18-inch crossbow bolt was fired through a second-floor window at her house.

Tracy Barcoe was not at her terraced home in John Street, Winsford, when the terrifying incident happened sometime between Wednesday, December 4 and Monday, December 9.

The bolt was fired at a high velocity from a crossbow and went straight through the window and a glass partition before slamming into a wall.

Tracy, aged 25, said: "Luckily I was staying at my mother and father's house while it happened - I am having gas repairs done at the moment.

"I could not believe it. A lot of families with children live on this road and it could easily have been fatal. A child could have died.

"The bolt has gone through a bedroom window and a glass door before lodging itself in the wall.

"I called the police and they have taken the arrow away for testing to see if there are any fingerprints on it - but they say it can be hard to prove anything in these kind of cases.

"The police also told me that if somebody had been there and they had been hit by this bolt they would have been at the very least seriously injured.

Lucky

"I'm terrified but lucky and glad that I wasn't in the room at the time."

Sgt Keith Beresford of Cheshire Police warned about the dangers of crossbows.

He said: "This is the first incident of its type that I have heard about in this area.

"To fire these kind of things through a window is extremely dangerous and could cause quite a lot of harm to anyone it came in contact with.

"If anybody knows anything about this incident we would urge them to get in touch with the police as soon as possible."

If you have any information please ring Winsford CID on 01606 592222.

rfraser@guardiangrp.co.uk