AN ELDERLY couple, one of whom has a heart condition, have spoken of their terror after police mistakenly raided their home at 6am.

Norman and Barbara Long were asleep in their home in Valley Side, Chingford, when the officers smashed their front door in.

Grandfather-of-four Mr Long, 77, said: “I heard a lot of noise, shouting and glass breaking, I thought we were being burgled.

“Then we heard people shouting 'police police police'.

“They asked me where my son is, before they realised they had the wrong house.”

Mrs Long, who has previously had heart surgery, suffered from a racing heart and sweating following the terrifying raid, and a doctor was called to attend her.

The couple were so traumatised by the raid that hours after the attack they were still being treated for shock.

It has now emerged the police officers should have raided the house of a suspected criminal in nearby Valley Side Parade.

Mr Long said: “They put the fear of Christ into me and my wife.

“How can they make a mistake like this? What would happen if they do this and somebody dies?”

The couple are considering making a complaint to the Independent Police Complaints Commission.

The raid at the Longs' home was part of a series of co-ordinated raids across Chingford yesterday (Wednesday) morning.

The operation, which involved more than 100 officers, is the largest of its kind in the last three-and-a-half years.

A total of 12 addresses were targeted and 14 people arrested as part of an operation to crackdown on drugs and gun crime.

The mistake at the Longs' home comes in a week when the Met has come under fire for its handling of the London G20 protests in April.