Beverley Chapman, 53, was alone on Saturday evening when a masked robber carrying a gun forced his way into her Sevenoaks home.

Police said several hundred thousand pounds of jewellery was stolen in the raid which occurred at around 9.40 p.m.

"The police were alerted after the woman's son came home at 10 p.m. and found her," a Kent Police spokeswoman said.

"No violence was used and she was not injured in the incident."

Police said the robber's weapon may have been an imitation or ball-bearing gun.

Charman was awarded the multi-million pound payout last August in what is believed to be Britain's largest ever contested divorce settlement.

Last week her ex-husband, insurance underwriter John Charman, 54, went to the Court of Appeal seeking to cut the settlement to 20 million pounds.

The final ruling is likely to be studied closely by lawyers negotiating the divorce pay-off between Paul McCartney and his estranged wife Heather Mills.