Angela Fildes and son Tyrome

ARMED police raided a Bolton house in search of a firearm -- which turned out to be a child's £5 capgun.

Mum Angela Fildes, 27, had a rude awakening when she was called to the door of her home on Brentwood Grove, Farnworth, to be confronted by officers in body armour, brandishing a search warrant, and looking for a handgun.

The "gun" belonged to her five-year-old son Tyrome and had been left in the family's Vauxhall Nova.

Waitress Angela, who is three-months pregnant, told the BEN that earlier that day her boyfriend Mark Nealon, 22, and two friends had taken the car to a car auction at Belle Vue, Manchester.

"Tyrome is mad about guns and has lots of toy ones,' she said. "He left one in the back of the car and it must have been spotted by someone in Manchester who noted the car's registration and called the police."

She added: "It was after midnight and we were all in bed when we heard the knock on the door.

"When I answered it I got the shock of my life to see so many police officers there. They asked to come in and started searching the house. At first they didn't tell us what they were after."

When police told Angela and Mark what they were searching for, the couple took them to the toy gun in the car.

"When they told us why they were there, we both started laughing. We couldn't believe it," Angela said. "We showed them the gun but they continued to search the house. They took the toy gun when eventually they left."

She added: "It did look real and I know the police have a job to do but they could have come earlier in the day.

"I had to go out and explain to the neighbours why the house had been raided. It was very embarrassing."

Young Tyrome slept through the whole affair but Angela said he was distraught when he discovered his favourite toy had been confiscated.

Angela said she is now considering a formal complaint against the police but had not yet sought legal advice.

"They should have told me what they were after when they first came in," she said. "When they found out it was a toy they tried to make out it was my fault and I was wasting their time."

Chief Inspector Alan Green of Bolton Police confirmed the raid had taken place and the toy had been taken.

He said: "We were acting on information we had received from the public about a positive sighting of a firearm.

"Unfortunately a number of toy guns have the appearance of real ones. If we receive this type of information, we are obliged to take action and it is common sense for us to take every precaution in case the information is correct."