A disabled mother who hid in a wardrobe “frozen” with terror after would-be intruders attempted to break into her home has spoken for the first time.

The 49-year-old, of The Warren, Gravesend, who wishes to remain anonymous, cowered in her wardrobe for three hours in the early hours of the morning until police arrived.

She believes that her bungalow was targeted as a result of her road being plunged into darkness as part of the Kent County Council (KCC) Safe and Sensible lighting initiative.

The culprits tried to force her French windows open during the attempted break-in.

The woman had to be hospitalised three times in the week after the incident, in May and has only just plucked up the courage to speak.

She said: “I was in the house alone because my husband and my daughter were away and I just heard the door being moved.

“I got out of bed and grabbed our land line and my phone and hid in the wardrobe. I went to call the police but I could hear movement down the side of the wardrobe and that scared me even more.

“I don’t know how many of them there were or if they were male or female but it scared me to think that I could hear them and if I made a call they could hear it. I just sat there frozen.”

The mother-of-three has decided to talk to the Messenger as her friend and neighbour Tina Brooker, 51, takes on county hall with her ‘Right to Light’ campaign.

Legal secretary Miss Brooker needs to collect 10,000 signatures for her e-petition by November 18 to trigger a full debate with KCC.

The aim of the council’s controversial scheme, which was introduced in April, is to reduce energy costs, carbon emissions and light pollution by turning off about 70,000 lights – 60% of the county’s 120,000 lights – between midnight and 5.30am, or 1am and 6.30am during British Summer Time.

It has received mass criticism in some areas of the county with many people feeling unsafe in their own neighbourhoods.

The woman suffers from a balance disorder called Ménière’s disease which means she cannot leave the house without company for fear of falling over.

She explained that while she does not leave the house often anyway, the incident and the lack of light has made her more wary.

She said:“It scared the life out of me and I was in the house for a further three days alone.

“I’ve lived here 13-and-a-half-years and I’ve never had a problem until the lights went out.”

The woman explained that police officers investigating the incident suggested that it was premeditated and that the intruders had picked the house and then waited for the lights to be turned off.

She said: “The first night [after the incident] wasn’t too bad, it was when the police told me that they thought the hedge by The Warren had been pulled back and that someone had made a gap to watch the house - that scared me.”

Police confirmed at the time officers were investigating an attempted break-in at The Warren at about 2am on May 8.

To sign the Right to Light petition click here.