A 60-YEAR-OLD householder was tied up in his Yorkshire home by masked raiders who threatened him with a baseball bat.

The aggravated burglary in Pocklington is similar to recent raids at Acaster Malbis and Beverley.

Police say they are not linking the incidents at the moment, although they are checking similarities between them.

Officers said today they were questioning a 25-year-old man who had been arrested in connection with yesterday's incident in Willow Court, Pocklington.

The victim answered a knock at the door of his home in Willow Court at about 8am to find two masked men outside, said a Humberside police spokeswoman.

They forced him back into his home and threatened him with a baseball bat before tying him up.

They then stole a small amount of cash and items of jewellery before leaving their victim shaken but otherwise unhurt.

Police are anxious to hear from anyone who saw two men in the Percy Road or New Street area of Pocklington yesterday morning.

Witnesses should telephone Pocklington police station on 01759 302174 or Goole police station on 01405 721013.

The police spokeswoman said the 25-year-old man was arrested yesterday and was in custody at Beverley police station, where he was due to be interviewed.

The attack comes only weeks after similar raids at Acaster Malbis and Beverley.

During the raid in Mill Lane, Acaster Malbis in February, the occupants of the house were tied up and threatened by four masked men, who made off with jewellery and money.

The raiders struck at the secluded riverside house in the Mill Lane area, apparently approaching the property from the rear after travelling along the riverbank. The terrified occupants were said afterwards to be extremely shocked but otherwise uninjured.

At the time, detectives were looking into a possible connection with an armed raid the same week, on a house in the Routh area of Beverley, during which a couple were bound and threatened with a sawn-off shotgun.

Humberside police spokesman Inspector Steve Love said today: "At the moment, we are not linking them but we have not closed our minds to the possibility. There are similarities, but we are not investigating them as linked crimes."

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