POLICE have apologised to a woman for an early-morning wake-up call from officers... and taking nearly two days to let her know if it was genuine.

Two police officers terrified Jennifer Palmer when they called at her bungalow in Mede Way, Wivenhoe, in the early hours.

The 58-year-old was woken by an urgent knocking on her bedroom window at 4.30am.

The officers said they were looking for a man who last lived at the address four years ago, before Mrs Palmer bought the house.

She refused to let them in without identification, but they pointed her to the marked police car parked outside. When she opened her door, the men searched her property for their suspect and questioned her.

She said: “After they left, I was in a terrible state.

“I would have thought they would have checked before coming round at that time.

“You hear of such elaborate scams these days. I just wasn’t sure if they were genuine, so I decided to ring the police to check.”

But when she phoned Essex Police, she was told there was no record of a visit.

She said: “It was a really distressing incident, but I was told nothing had been logged. It was extremely worrying for me, as I had no way of knowing whether it was an official visit.”

It was not until 36 hours later that Mrs Palmer received confirmation about the officers’ visit.

Helen Cook, Essex Police spokeswoman, said: “The two officers were making lawful inquiries to locate a wanted man and arrest him.

“The address had been provided by someone involved in a case, but unfortunately it proved to be inaccurate.

“The officers were in uniform, showed their warrant cards and there was a marked police car outside her house.”

She blamed logistical reasons and officers’ shift patterns for the time it took Mrs Palmer to find out whether the raid was genuine.

She added: “There are four police stations in the Colchester district and officers will not be aware of what other officers from other stations are working on, unless it is a 999 incident.

“However, anyone can ring 0300 3334444 and check an officer’s identity using their name or collar number with the force information room.”

She added police had spoken again to Mrs Palmer and apologised.