Girl takes on burglars

Tabitha told the burglars to leave. Photo / APN

Brave and level-headed 10-year-old Tabitha Williams had no qualms about confronting two burglars she disturbed in her family home.

"Who are you? What are you doing?" she demanded when she came across two strangers in the living room when she went to get a drink of water at 11.45pm on Wednesday.

One of the youths was rummaging through her mother's handbag, the other was at the computer desk.

"I said, 'if you've got anything drop it and go away'," Tabitha said.

The youths told her they had nothing and ducked out the open ranchslider. Tabitha locked the door and ran calling for her parents who were asleep in the Kensington house, Whangarei.

But the burglars did have something - and the family is pleading for the return of a laptop which has years of precious family photos on it.

Thanks to Tabitha's clear description, the police, who had arrived within minutes, caught one of the youths nearby but he did not have the laptop with him.

Police are seeking the second offender.