“WE didn’t know whether to come out with our hands up or hit the floor”.

Those are the words of a resident of a hamlet near Northallerton, after being stunned by North Yorkshire Police launching a firearms exercise, allegedly involving machine guns, just yards from his home.

Deputy chairman of South Otterington, Newby Wiske and Maunby Parish Council Keith Bowe said he had been sat in his garden with his wife, Carol and her mother, who is in her 90s, when about ten officers appeared to open fire on a man running into a wooded area.

Councillor Bowe said while the police activity was happening in the grounds of the force’s former headquarters, Newby Wiske Hall, on the other side of his hedge, as police had never used it for firearms training previously and had not announced it would happen, his family became alarmed. He said: “The rapid fire was frightening, we didn’t know what was happening. My mother-in-law, who is recovering from a stroke, had told us she heard gun fire the week before, but we didn’t believe her.”

At a meeting of the county’s Police and Crime Panel, Cllr Bowe told Police and Crime Commissioner Julia Mulligan the operation was intimidating for people wanting to exercise their right to use a footpath through the hall’s grounds.

In response to Cllr Bowe, the meeting heard there was an ongoing legal dispute over access to the footpath, but access to it by the public had been closed off.

Members were also told all training exercise in the hall’s grounds underwent a risk assessment.

Mrs Mulligan said she would relay the residents’ concerns to a senior officer.

A spokesman for North Yorkshire Police said: “Clearly, it is essential that our authorised firearms officers train regularly and to a high standard, to develop and maintain their critical policing skills.”

He said the training exercise in question had involved low-decibel blank ammunition.

The spokesman added: “We’re sorry to hear that some residents were concerned by this activity.

“No further training involving blank ammunition is currently planned in Newby Wiske. However, if we do run further training of this nature in the future, we will seek to notify local residents in advance.”