A 96-YEAR-old woman died feeling “terrified” of burglars who repeatedly broke into her home and trashed it.

Teresa Turner lived at retirement home John Eddie Court in South Ham for 20 years, but in the last month she was allegedly terrorised by teenagers who kept breaking in and using the shared areas.

Her daughter, Mags Stacey, said her mother spent her final hours hallucinating about the burglars and feeling frightened.

Mags, a mother-of-two, is now worried for the other elderly residents and is hoping something will be done to stop the group from breaking into the building.

She was with her mother before she died on December 5, and said she spent her final moments feeling "traumatised".

“She was so scared. She felt like she had to lock herself in,” she said, adding: “We called the ambulance and all night she was hallucinating about these girls coming in. She was so scared that the girls were going to break into her house and all night she was telling these girls to 'go home' and 'go away'. It was really horrible. It traumatised her. She died feeling so scared.”

Mags, who lives in Windsor, said her mother had lived at John Eddie Court, run by Sovereign, for 20 years and never had any problems.

However, she said around a month ago a teenage girl managed to break into the shared living areas and brought her friends along.

The group allegedly spent all night there on one occasion and were found by a cleaner in the morning doing puzzles in the lounge.

Mags said: “They caused absolute havoc. They broke in and they came and moved all the scooters and things that the old people drive. They moved all the chairs and went into the kitchen and helped themselves. Then they went upstairs and there were big rows of books and nice chairs and they threw them all on the floor. They did this about three times. When the cleaner came, they were there in the lounge doing puzzles and had been there all night.”

Around 52 people live at John Eddie Court and Mags said many had become fearful of the break-ins.

“People have started to feel really unsafe. It’s horrible,” she said.

Mags said the break-ins had been reported to the police, and residents were advised to contact Hampshire Constabulary if it happened again.

A spokesperson for Hampshire Constabulary said: "We were called at 5.12am on Sunday 30 November to a report that teenagers had gained access to John Eddie Court on St Michael’s Road in Basingstoke.

"Officers attended the scene but the group had dispersed. Since the incident was reported to us, officers have been engaging with people inside the property."

Matt Hensby, assistant director for localities at Sovereign, said: “While we understand that incidents like this can be deeply upsetting for those involved, our team acted quickly to put things right.

“At the end of last month, we were notified that the front doors to the block were not shutting correctly. Work was carried out the same day to fix the issue, and there have been no further incidents reported since.

“We want every customer to feel safe in their home, so our team is working with the police and local council safety team to provide additional reassurance.

"We have also reminded our customers of the steps they can take to ensure their own safety, which includes keeping the doors and entrances to the building shut.”