Plank hurled through woman's window

It sent large shards of glass all over her room.

The plank landed next to an armchair in the lounge.

The incident happened just after Mrs Ivy Philcox had left for a game of bingo.

She returned to find her window boarded up by police, the plank in her lounge, an occasional table damaged and pieces of glass up to 14ft into the room.

"I was horrified," said the 78-year-old. "I couldn t stop shaking. Why should someone want to do that?"

Wilton Road neighbours called the police after hearing noises outside the ground floor flat.

Mrs Philcox said: "The plank must have come through the window and past the curtains like a missile."

Police are hunting a man aged 20 to 30 who ran off from the scene towards the seafront at about 7.23pm last Thursday. He was wearing a light jacket and blue jeans.

Sergeant Dave Costigan said: "Fortunately, nobody was hurt but there could have been very serious injuries if anyone had been in the room at the time.

"There was no attempt to enter the room and no reason for the attack is known at this time."

Anyone with information is asked to contact Community Beat Officer PC Roy Warren at Bexhill police station on 0845 6070999.