A WEALTHY haulage boss was hit over the head with a hammer when he was woken by thieves in an early morning raid.

Businessman Mark Schofield was left covered in blood after being targeted by three masked robbers who stole £75,000 worth of his belongings, police said.

Mr Schofield, aged 57, of Greens Arms Road, Turton, had been asleep when the men burst into his upstairs bedroom shortly after 4.30am yesterday.

The balaclava-clad gang managed to steal two £30,000 Rolex watches, a diamond ring, a Louis Vuitton handbag and the couple’s 2006 Porsche Cayenne.

About 30 officers attended the incident and crime scene investigators spent all day searching the area.

Mr Schofield, the director of MS Transport in Bolton, said he had heard a noise at 4am but had drifted back to sleep.

He added: “I thought I heard footsteps and then all of a sudden the bedroom door burst open.

“It was pitch black and then there was this almighty roar.

“Three men wearing balaclavas came over to my side and switched the lights on. One of them had a hammer.

“I sat up and tried to grab one of them and, with his left hand, he swung out with the hammer. I wasn’t knocked out, but it did knock me back.”

His partner Sue Evans, aged 58, said: “It was awful, we were petrified.

“I could hear Mark’s head smash and there was blood everywhere. He could have been killed. I got out of bed and kept pressing the panic button to our alarm.

“One of the men put the hammer on my hand and he took the Rolex off my wrist.”

The gang then searched the bedroom for valuables before fleeing the detached home.

Det Sgt Marc Saunders, of Blackburn CID, said: “This was a nasty and unprovoked attack on a couple while they were sleeping. They were lucky. I appeal for anyone who saw anything suspicious in Turton in the days leading up to the burglary to come forward.”

Police said the burglars had arrived in a blue Ford Fiesta which was later recovered at the junction of High Street and Chapel Grange in nearby Chapelown.

Det Sgt Saunders said: “We believe the Ford Fiesta had been stolen from outside an address in Lightbounds Street in Bolton about 7pm the night before the burglary.

“We believe the vehicle had been abandoned by the thieves who left the scene in the Porsche Cayenne.”

Anyone with information should call police on 101.