A family whose home was burgled earlier this month have said the trauma was made worse by a catalogue of errors by bungling policemen.

Jewellery, a phone, an iPad and more than £100 in cash were stolen from the Oyerinde's family home in Lansdell Road, Mitcham Eastfields, during a day-time break in on Monday, February 2.

But when officers arrived to investigate, the victim care card they gave to the family to report stolen items had no telephone number for them to call with the details.

The next day, neighbourhood police officers delivered letters to neighbours informing them of the incident and appealing for information.

But neighbours were told the burglary took place a month earlier, on January 2 and that no items had been stolen.

Then just a few days after the burglary, Ade Oyerinde received a letter from police dated February 3 stating the case had been closed, before immediate neighbours had even been questioned by police.

Mr Oyerinde, an auditor who lives with his wife and three children, said: "Any break-in is a traumatic experience for any family but to have this compounded by a police investigation service that appears to go through the investigation process like a tickbox exercise simply compounds the feeling of helplessness from an organisation that is there to reassure us."

Borough commander, Chief Superintendent Stuart Macleod, said: "We are disappointed whenever anyone has cause for complaint in terms of the service we offer.

"We got to this case very promptly. The reporting officer spoke to the victim and spoke to a number of neighbours."

He said the lack of a telephone number and incorrect date were "regrettable" and "disappointing", but added they were "human errors".

Merton police are in the process of issuing new victim care cards, which will have telephone numbers printed on them.

Mr Oyerinde, 47, whose house was targeted by a night-time burglar six years ago, said: "This time nobody was home and thankfully my daughter was not in.

"If she was she’d have been upstairs listening to music with her headphones.

"That’s the bit that’s worrying and as a result I don’t know if it would be a deterrent and we are looking to have an alarm fitted at a large cost."

He said the police responded in a similar way to the burglary six years ago, leafleting neighbours about the break-in before closing the case a few days later.

He said: "I know from my job how statistics work and police are under pressure to close as many cases as possible.

"You just get the impression that's what the police are trying to do."

Wimbledon Times:

Police errors: The flawed Victim Care Card and letter given to the Oyerinde family and neighbours after the burglary 

A spokeswoman for Merton police said the case would be re-opened by the borough's dedicated burglary team if new evidence came to light.

The Met Police was slammed by the London Assembly in January 2013 when figures showed it had the worst victim satisfaction rates of any police force in the country. 

There were 120 residential burglaries in Merton in December 2013, up from 97 the previous December.

Chief Supt Macleod said: "We take victim care extremely seriously in Merton.

"If people are dissatisfied with services then please bring it to our attention but most of our victims are satisfied with the service that they receive."

Are you satisfied with victim care support in Merton? Comment below, or email louisa.clarence@london.newsquest.co.uk.