A worried mother has vowed never to leave her son alone at home again after he was assaulted by an intruder.

Football-mad Ryan Brook, 13, is now too scared to stay by himself in the four-bedroom family home in the First Street area of Low Moor.

At about 1.15pm on Tuesday, Ryan, pictured with his mum, was watching television in the lounge when he heard a noise upstairs. Believing it to be his mother returning home, he went to have a look.

Ryan said: "I got halfway up the stairs when I saw a man creeping from one room to another. He saw me and shouted: 'Get back!'

"I ran down the stairs in a panic and into the garden. I was so scared, I just wanted to get out of the house and away from him.

"He must have run into the bathroom and through the window, because he jumped onto me from the roof.

"He punched my head, just above my eyes, with his fist.

"Then he grabbed me back by the arm. I started shouting for help, and ran next door. Then he ran off up the snicket."

An hysterical Ryan, who plays football for Shelf Juniors, was treated in Bradford Royal Infirmary for his injuries. The intruder is believed to have been wearing a ring because Ryan had scratches on his forehead, and bruising.

Mum Deborah, a social science academic researcher, was heartbroken that her son had been attacked in his own home. She believes the psychological effects of the attack will take a long time to heal.

"We don't even believe in smacking the kids," she said.

"Poor Ryan wouldn't come back into the house until we were all there, he was so upset. I will never leave him alone again. He is a capable 13-year-old, but you never expect a stranger to come into the house and attack your children. It is cowardly.

"He grabbed him back so he clearly wanted to hurt him."

She added: "It could have been so much worse. Ryan thought he was going to be killed."

The family, including Ryan's sister Gemma, 19, brother Stephen 18, and father Stephen, have lived in the house which they built themselves for about eight years.

Following Ryan's ordeal, they now wish to move.

The intruder did not steal anything from the house. But its position on a dead end road leads the family to think he knew the area or had been there previously.

The Brooks praised the help of PC Sam Buckley, who they said had been "wonderful".

They want anyone who know the intruder to tell the police.

He is described as a white man, aged 25 to 35, with straight, dark hair which was short but slightly longer on top. He wore a red and black checked, long-sleeved lumberjack shirt.

Anyone with information, or who saw the man running along the snicket at the back of Cold Drawn Products, into Parkhouse Lane, is asked to call PC Buckley at Bradford South CID on (01274) 376459 or Crimestoppers, anonymously, on (0800) 555111.