A Southfields resident’s front door was smashed in by police after she was mistakenly reported missing while away on holiday.

With comic timing, officers knocked down the door at the exact moment the owner returned home from a 10-day holiday, residents say.

According to witnesses, the confused elderly lady walked straight up to her demolished front door and asked perplexed officers: “What’s going on? Who are you lot?”

Officers are said to have informed the woman that she had been reported missing and there were concerns about her safety.

A police spokeswoman said: “Officers were checking on the lady in question’s welfare as she had been reported missing by her son earlier that day.”

Witnesses say they saw several uniformed and plain-clothed police officers - equipped with stab vests and a battering ram - preparing to enter the main building in Burghley Hall Close, off Princes Way, on Friday, January 9, accompanied by two paramedics.

One resident, who did not want to be named, said: “It was about mid-afternoon when I heard some commotion outside my flat.

"Out on the street was a complete selection of emergency vehicles.

"The amount of officers and equipment suggested they were preparing for a drugs bust or even something related to terrorism.

“Once they entered the building I thought they were heading for my flat but then they suddenly veered left and smashed through down the front door.

“It seems to be a massive waste of resources to have so many officers present and I would be furious if I had got back from holiday to find my front door smashed in.”

Another neighbour says she overheard the owner of the flat talking to other residents after the incident.

She said: “Once the police left, I overheard the lady outside talking about her son.

"She admitted that he was very protective and might have panicked by calling the police but couldn’t understand what all the fuss was about.”

• What do you think? Let us know in the comments section below.