THREE masked men burst into a house full of students, attacked them and stole their belongings.

The break-in happened in Beaconsfield Road, Brighton, at 11pm on Monday night.

The house was occupied by a number of University of Sussex students, who were assaulted and threatened before their laptops, mobile phones and cash were stolen.

A man, thought to be a neighbour, was punched in the face as he challenged the intruders as they escaped towards Ditchling.

The three men, all black, aged 30 to 35, and wearing dark clothing, then got into a car thought to be a BMW and drove off up Ditchling Rise towards Ditchling Road.

Alison Broughton, 48, who lives a few doors down from the incident, said the police knocked on her door the morning afterwards.

She told The Argus: “When you have a police woman looking you in the eyes and saying there has been an aggravated burglary it is scary.

“It’s awful because it’s just me and my daughter living here.

“There are student parties and people coming and going.

“It has affected me. It just gets to you.”

Another resident saw a man with grey hair and wearing a T-shirt intervening.

She said: “I heard some guy going, ‘Come back, come back.’ “I knew something weird was going on.”

Abul Mohammed works in Shahi Tandoori and was on a shift when the neighbour ran in and asked him to call the police.

He said: “It’s scary to know that, with all the security cameras around, people even have the audacity to do this kind of crime.

“It’s a lively road but this makes us a little insecure that they can get away with something so sinister.”

Detective Sergeant Simon Dunn said: “This was a terrifying experience for the victims and we urgently need to speak to anyone who could know who the three men are or the member of the public who intervened.

“This was a violent attack on the students in their home and we need to find those responsible.”

Anyone with information should email 101@sussex.pnn.police.uk quoting serial 1655 of 29/09, call 101 or contact the independent charity Crimestoppers anonymously on 0800 555111.