A pair of masked men were caught on a family’s Ring doorbell as they tried to break into their home in the early hours last week.

Devin Parmar, his wife and two children were at home in West Wickham, south London, when a notification that someone was at their front door came through at 5.20am on March 5.

The 42-year-old said when his wife opened the Ring app they saw one of the men covering the camera and he immediately ran downstairs to confront the pair.

‘I needed to protect my family,’ he said.

‘My reaction was to get downstairs as quickly as I could and confront them and defend my home.’

After the doorbell chimed and Mr Parmar’s light was turned on upstairs, the men ran off but not before they broke through the door.

One even stepped inside the house before they ran away.

The Ring camera footage shows Mr Parmar coming through the door and shouting seconds after the pair left, while appearing to wield a baseball bat.

Two masked men were caught on camera trying to break into Devin Parmar’s home in south London

One of the men raised his hand to cover the Ring camera as they tried to break through Mr Parmar’s door

The Ring camera chimed and a light inside the house was turned on as Mr Parmar and his wife were woken by a notification, after which the intruders fled

Seconds after the pair left, Mr Parmar came through the door appearing to wield a baseball bat

Mr Parmar said he and his wife thought they were looking at a live image when they opened the Ring app but there was actually a 20-second delay, meaning they had already left when he came downstairs.

‘I wasn’t that far behind them,’ he said.

‘It was only afterwards that we realised they had actually forced entry. They went as soon as they heard the Ring chime and that we were aware that they were trying to break in.’

He immediately contacted the police and said a forensics team came to look for evidence.

Mr Parmar added officers were surprised the intruders came so late in the morning and suspected they were rookies – the pair waited for each other before running off.

The father-of-two has since fitted more locks and security, saying the incident has shaken him and his kids, aged five and nine, as they had always thought the area was safe.

Mr Parmar and his family have lived in West Wickham for six years – he said nothing like this had happened before and burglaries and break-ins were ‘not common in the area’.

‘I had felt very safe before. West Wickham has always felt like a safe place. Incidents like this are in my view isolated but we are a lot more cautious and vigilant now.

‘It makes you think twice and look over your shoulder a bit more. I am quite shocked and surprised to see this happen.

‘The area is very community led and friendly so to experience something like this here feels like the area is being targeted.’

A Metropolitan Police spokesperson said the force understood ‘the community concern’ caused by these kinds of incidents.

They said officers had been called to an attempted burglary and are still investigating.

No arrests have yet been made.