A SERIOUSLY-ill north Lancashire man was subjected to a terrifying robbery after masked men forced their way into his lodge home.

Steve Weatherhead and his brother, Lee, were held down and threatened with a hammer, crowbar, and pepper spray, during the raid at the Northside Caravan Park, in North Road, Carnforth.

One of the four intruders ordered an accomplice to spray Lee in the eyes with the pepper spray during the pair’s horrifying five-minute ordeal.

The other members of the gang then stole a safe and personal belongings.

They escaped in a waiting vehicle parked in a field next to the site, and fled despite the efforts of one resident, who gave chase.

Speaking to The Westmorland Gazette, Steve Weatherhead, who is undergoing chemotherapy to treat a brain tumour, which means he cannot move the left side of his body, said the robbery left him feeling ‘haunted at night’.

Mr Weatherhead, 54, said his brother had just finished cooking a curry when the robbers forced their way into his house, at 6.45pm on Friday.

The father-of-three and grandfather-of-one said: “Lee tried to stop them coming in by putting his foot next to the door, but there were too many of them.

“They forced him on to the floor with a hammer and a coloured plastic bottle of spray. One of them kept saying: ‘Spray him in the eyes’, but luckily he didn’t.”

When the men left the house, they threw Steve’s panic button, which contacts family members in emerg-encies, down the hallway, and their mobile phones into a nearby hedgerow.

Steve, who runs a cafe in Morecambe, said: “Obviously it was petrifying. I couldn’t do anything and my brother was pinned down. It was a frightening experience.

“I can’t say it isn’t haunting me at night. I can still see the picture of what happened in my head.

Lee, 42, said once they had gone, he called the police.Caravan park resident Cath Ball said: “Everybody has been in shock at what has happened.

“Steve is such a nice guy. You wouldn’t think anything like that would happen here.”

Mr Weatherhead said one of his daughters was now fixing a security camera to his property, while caravan park residents said discuss-ions would now take place about installing lighting and extra security measures.

Caravan park manager Mike McCarthy said: “It’s a terrible and awful thing to happen. I’ve had that park for 20 years and nothing like this has ever happened before.

“We’ll probably have a look at security, but I don’t think anything like this will happen again. I think it was just a one-off.”

Residents at the park said they saw people in hoodies at the site on the previous Tuesday night.

They were scared off by a man walking his dog.

It is not known if these youths were connected to the people who carried out the robbery.

DI Jo Dent, of Lancaster Police, said: “This is a serious and targeted offence and I would appeal for the public’s help to catch these men and bring them to justice.

“Although not hurt, both victims were left badly shaken by their ordeal and the motive for the robbery is unknown.”

Police later recovered the stolen safe from a live lane on a northbound section of the M6, between junctions 36 and 37.

Anybody with information should contact Lancashire Police on 101.