Thieves hold knife to mother’s throat in terrifying home robbery

A mother has had a knife held to her throat during a terrifying home invasion in Melbourne.

She was asleep in the bedroom, with a young child, when three men armed with a knife and a hammer broke in to their Albion property about 1.30am.

The woman’s husband awoke to his wife’s screams.

“That woke me quite abruptly so I came running down the stairs to see three men jumping out the window,” he told 9NEWS.

“I think I scared them off before anything bad happened.”

Two sets of keys and an iPad were stolen from the home on Anderson Road before the men, described by police as African in appearance, fled on foot.

None of the four adults nor the child, who were inside at the time were injured.

Other neighbours have said their homes were also disturbed overnight.

It comes one night after thugs armed with crow bars and baseball bats smashed into a family's home in Taylor's Hill. 

Police are investigating whether the Taylor's Hill break-in is linked to another armed robbery at a Macdonalds hours later in Essendon.