Footballer Emile Heskey's fiancée threatened at knifepoint as robbers raid home

The England footballer  was out at training when the attackers smashed their way through the front door of his Cheshire mansion and confronted Chantelle Tagoe, the mother of his two young children.

The raiders then ransacked the couple's £1.65million seven-bedroom house, stealing jewellery before taking the footballer's £40,000 BMW 4x4 and fleeing.

Jewel theft: Emile Heskey and Chantelle Tagoe were 'shaken' by the ordeal

Heskey, who earns £40,000-a-week at Wigan Athletic, is the latest footballer to have his home targeted by gangs looking to steal expensive cars, watches and jewellery.

In most cases the houses were empty as the stars were playing in matches, but as with fellow England player Steven Gerrard's wife Alex Curran, the victim of a traumatic raid last year, Heskey's partner came face-to-face with the intruders.

Most top players already live behind high walls and intercom-controlled gates in exclusive developments patrolled by private security firms, but the spate of break-ins has forced clubs to consider even tougher measures such as sealed "panic rooms".

Heskey's four-storey Edwardian mansion in Hale, a Manchester suburb favoured by footballers and other top sportsmen, was targeted shortly before 11am.

Today the 30-year-old striker said two men with Mancunian accents "kicked down" the front door and threatened Miss Tagoe with a knife.

Target: Heskey's £1.65 mansion was raided by burglars while the player was training and his wife was at home

'I am very glad and relieved to report that Chantelle was not hurt and my children were away from the house at the time of the incident,' he said.

'Chantelle was obviously very upset and shaken by what happened and is still very, very distressed but we both just want to put the ordeal behind us and get back to normality.

'We are both very conscious that many people are victims of these kinds of crimes everyday and my thoughts are with anybody who has gone through what my family is going through at the moment.'

Builders are renovating a neighbouring property, and the comings and goings of vans and workmen are thought to have helped the robbers break in without being suspected.

The former Leicester City and Liverpool star, who has played for England 45 times, joined Wigan from Birmingham City in a £5.5million deal in 2006.

Heskey has three children by former partner Kylee Pinsent but left her for Miss Tagoe - a former lapdancing bar cocktail waitress and beautician - four years ago.

They moved to Hale last summer, buying what was described as 'a magnificent Edwardian property' with seven bedrooms over four floors, a carriage driveway and extensive, mature grounds.

One neighbour said: 'The first we knew was when the police told us. There's a lot of building work going on at the house next door so there are cars and vans coming and going all day, and no-one noticed anything unusual. It's horrific.

'The police have advised us to be careful - it must have been so scary for her.'

Greater Manchester Police confirmed they were investigating last Wednesday's burglary.

'Officers attended and discovered a woman had been threatened at knifepoint after two men broke into the address,' a spokeswoman said. 'The men escaped with a number of items in a stolen BMW.

'Inquiries are continuing.'

Among Heskey's neighbours in Hale are football managers Roy Keane and Bryan Robson, cricketer Andrew Flintoff and singer Russell Watson.

The attack resembles a raid last December on Liverpool and England star Steven Gerrard's £3million mansion in Formby, the eighth such break-in at the home of players from the city's Premiership clubs in just 18 months.

He was playing in Marseille at the time, but his 25-year-old wife Alex Curran was watching him on television with a female friend when four masked men burst in, escaping with thousands of pounds worth of watches and jewellery.

Last July, former Atomic Kitten singer Kerry Katona was held hostage at knifepoint along with her baby daughter at her home in Wilmslow, five miles from Heskey's house.

They were forced into the basement while her taxi driver husband Mark Croft was ordered to show them where their valuables were kept, allowing the gang to steal tens of thousands of pounds worth of jewellery and electrical goods as well as a £65,000 BMW M5.