It was only by chance the heavily-pregnant wife was not home alone when two youths tried to break into their Ravensthorpe home on Wednesday morning.

The couple are too afraid to be named but want to alert others.

The wife called her taxi driver husband when she began having pains early on Wednesday morning. He dashed home to Broomer Street to take her to hospital.

While they were gone, the youths tried to get into the house using a crowbar. But a neighbour spotted them and went out to ask what they were doing.

The youths said they were looking for someone, but the neighbour asked them to leave and they headed off towards Kingfisher Crescent.

"If my neighbour hadn't been there they would have been in," said the houseowner, 25. "One minute we are so happy to be having our first child and next minute we are down in the dumps with this.

"I want to make people aware of what can happen and be extra careful. "

Police are hunting two suspects. One is stocky and was wearing a dark coat. The other is thin, young-looking with a dark coat and the hood up.