A COUPLE have spoken of their shock after armed police arrived on their doorstep searching for suspect carrying a weapon – despite nobody being in the house at the time.

The officers from Durham Police targeted the house on Elm Drive, Shildon, at around 1pm on Tuesday following reports that an armed man had been spotted running into the home of Dean and Joanne Stocks.

Despite neighbours telling the police the house was empty, it took frantic telephone calls to get Mrs Stocks to return home to allow them to search it.

Durham Police confirmed the address had been searched and no weapons recovered.

However, the couple have no idea why the police believed a weapon was in their home.

The situation was made worse for the pair as police phoned them both but would not elaborate whether anything serious had happened to either of them or their young daughter Lyla.

Mrs Stocks said: "It was a living hell and something like that doesn’t just go away overnight. If they had just told us everyone was ok there wouldn't have been all of this turmoil.

"When Dean tried calling them, from Gateshead where he was working, they wouldn’t tell him anything.

"I thought Lyla was dead and Dean thought me and Lyla were being held hostage.

"If they’d just told us that they had no reason to suspect that any of us were in danger, or in the house, we’d have been much more at ease. It’s scary seeing armed police enter your house but once it’s done, it’s done.

"The thought that there’s a real possibility you’ve lost your daughter, husband or wife is the thing that’s affected us most."

A police spokeswoman said: "We take all reports of potential firearms incidents very seriously and respond appropriately. In this case, the property was searched and no firearms were found. We will be contacting the residents of the address to offer support and reassurance."