EVERYONE makes mistakes, said an 83-year-old Fenland widow this week after police crashed her front door down in a bungled drugs raid.

The lady, from Wimblington, was left with a bloodied nose when armed officers burst into the wrong house during last Monday’s raids.

Neighbours feared the devastating effect that this early-morning drama would have on the woman, while the police, no doubt, braced themselves for a furious reaction. But the reaction was anything but furious.

In fact, the force may be counting their blessings that they stumbled into the home of one of the most understanding pensioners in all of Fenland.

“As far as I’m concerned it never happened,” she said. “I have forgotten about it and that’s the best thing to do.

“Police have looked after me and they have been very nice. They replaced the locks straight away and somebody has already been round to measure the door.”

Chief Inspector Mike Winters has issued a public apology, stating that the mistake was due to “an administrative error with the intelligence”.

The brave 83-year-old has remained anonymous throughout. As she said, she was quite happy to forget about it and we agreed not to name her.

In a situation where many would have been penning strongly worded letters to the Chief Constable or shouting the odds down at their local station, this ‘no fuss’ attitude seems refreshing.

This feisty octogenarian is quite happy to erase the memory of her door being battered to pieces, disregard the cut nose and get on with life.

“Several people have rung me and asked if I’m all right,” she said. “But I’m fine. I was up and out for dinner in March two days afterwards.”

It will take more than a early-morning visit from seven armed police officers and a bloody nose to shake her up.