AN innocent woman was left shaken and “feeling like a criminal” after armed police battered down her door and raided her house for firearms.

Holly Sanders was at work when she began receiving phone calls from her worried sister and a friend saying police had broken down the door of her home in Woodmans Green, Westlands, Droitwich, where she lives alone with her eight cats.

West Mercia Police says it was executing an ‘intelligence-led warrant’, that officers followed standard procedures and that it has received no formal complaints.

Superintendent Kevin Purcell has this morning (Wednesday) released a statement saying the actions they took were proportionate to the intelligence they had.

He also denied Miss Sanders' claim that her kittens were shut in a drawer during the raid.

But Miss Sanders says she had no idea why they thought she would have firearms and that she has been given no explanation from the police.

Almost three weeks after the raid, she feels unsafe, as her front door is still fitted with a temporary lock which is no longer closing securely.

She also claims officers shut a drawer on her bed, trapping six four-week-old kittens away from their mother.

The 22-year-old said: “I was at work and had no idea until my sister phoned to say one of her friends had walked past the house just as it was being raided.

“I just said “No, it wouldn’t be my house” and then another friend contacted me who lives on the green saying the same.

“I had to drop everything – thankfully I have a very understanding boss.

“I just kept thinking that it was not going to be my house until I saw there were eight armed officers.

“I was so concerned for my four-week-old kittens I rushed upstairs to check on them, but one officer grabbed my arm and wouldn’t let go.

“I knew they had been doing raids in the area and knew of one of the people they had arrested, but I couldn’t understand why they had got my house.

“Never in my life have I had a firearm, I’ve never been in trouble with the police, but they didn’t give me any explanation why they thought I had one.

“I live alone with my eight cats, sometimes look after my niece and nephew and keep myself to myself.

“I felt useless while they were going through my personal belongings and when they left it looked like I had been burgled.

“It was an absolute mess. I cried when they left because I was so embarrassed because all my neighbours had seen.

“I don’t socialise with people who have firearms, I don’t know why they thought I would have firearms.

“If I did know I would have been a bit more understanding, but I still think they had the wrong house.”

Supt Purcell said: "I am aware of this warrant and the circumstances of it.

"We were, as stated, executing a firearms warrant.

"I am clear that the action we took was proportionate to the intelligence we had in our possession and was in keeping with our responsibility for protecting people from harm.

"The issues regarding the care of the kittens is not true, at no stage were they shut in a drawer.

"Police in Worcestershire pride themselves on low levels of both gun and knife crime.

"This is due in large part to us relentlessly following up intelligence, acting to impact upon the possession, storage or carrying of guns.

"We similarly have robust, proportionate responses for the carrying of knives or any other offensive weapon. 

"We encourage the public to report concerns in the knowledge we will act, my officers will then be able to continue to keep our streets and estates free the blight of gun and knife crime and the misery that it causes."

A police spokeswoman said: “A warrant was executed at a property on Woodmans Green on Thursday, April 28, 2016.

“Standard procedures were followed and nothing was seized from the address.

“The occupier was provided with a copy of the warrant.

“No formal complaints have been received and if the occupier does have any concerns, we would encourage her to contact our Professional Standards Department so they can be formally addressed.”