A RUNCORN family has spoken out about the race-hate hell that made them afraid to walk the streets.

The Khans of Egerton Street were tormented by neighbour Timothy Lyons who subjected them to a torrent of racial abuse and threatened to burn their house down.

He was jailed for six months on Friday after Warrington Crown Court heard about his 'appalling' behaviour.

Somrun Khan, 38, said: "It was so frightening. You are constantly looking over your shoulder. You hear a noise and you think it's a bomb."

The Khan family, who are of Bangladeshi origin, have lived in Egerton Street since 1969 - long before Lyons, 25, was born.

The family say they have suffered racial abuse for many years, but never on the scale inflicted upon them by Lyons.

Somrun said: "At first, it seemed like a neighbours' dispute, but then Lyons started with the racial abuse - you couldn't reason with him.

"It was hard because my nine-year-old daughter knew exactly what was going on. Children can't deal with stuff like this as well as adults, but they still see the screaming and the insults."

Lyons' threats to burn down the house weren't taken lightly by the Khans because someone else had already tried it during a previous incident.

Somrun said her parents - her 64-year-old mother and her 70-year-old father - felt especially vulnerable.

Investigating officer, PC Neil Burdekin, said: "We treat any incidents of racial abuse very seriously and fully investigate any complaints that are made to us.

"We want people in Halton to know that if they do these sorts of things, the courts will punish them heavily."

Somrun, a former pupil at The Heath, said: "We want to see an end to it all.

"I really hope this will make people think twice before they racially threaten or abuse anyone.

"If we cut ourselves open, we all bleed the same colour."

'This was foul, threatening and frightening racial abuse' - judge

A MAN whose 'appalling' torrent of racial abuse was caught on camera has been sentenced to six months in prison.

Timothy Lyons taunted and threatened to burn down the home of a frightened Runcorn family of Asian descent, Warrington Crown Court heard.

But the Khans, of Egerton Street, filmed him as he hurled threats and insults from the road below.

Lyons, 25, of Grangeway was sentenced on Friday after pleading guilty to two counts of racially aggravated harassment causing distress.

The court heard that Lyons, who was the Khan' next-door neighbour, had already been warned by police about his behaviour from previous incidents and had been served with a harassment notice.

But on August 18 last year, Somner Khan, 38, was leaving the family home with her two daughters - one aged nine and the other just nine months old - when Lyons swore at her and hurled racial insults.

He then shouted: "I'm going to come over there and smash your face and shut you up for good. I'm going to torch your family's house, I'm going to put an end to it all."

Lyons again unleashed a stream of insults and expletives in the early hours of August 25 - but was caught on camera.

A tape, played in court, showed him shouting at the house, threatening to kill the family if they called the police and claiming he was going to 'burn the house down'.

Mr Simon Berkson, defending, said Lyons had been drunk the night he was caught on tape.

While he admitted that Lyons had behaved 'appallingly', he said the racial insults were 'out of character for this defendant'.

Sentencing, Judge David Hale, said: "Significant hurt and fear has been caused to the Khan family in this case. I have listened to the videotape and it's clearly foul, threatening and frightening racial abuse."