Armed police hunting fugitive gunman Raoul Moat left bullets in child's bedroom after search

Armed police hunting for Raoul Moat left a magazine of bullets in child's bedroom after searching a family home, it was revealed today.

A SWAT team left a clip containing 20 copper-tipped 5.56 calibre bullets - capable of piercing steel.

The armed team had raided the Newcastle home of a couple and their 11-year-old daughter after reports Moat was in hiding at their address in Kenton.

But after the parents were handcuffed and led into the street by armed police in front of neighbours, police found no trace of the fugitive and left.

They left behind a magazine containing at least 20 rounds of ammunition which were discarded in the bedroom of the couple's daughter.

Left behind: The magazine of bullets left in a house in Kenton

Deadly: The magazine contained 20 copper-tipped 5.56 calibre bullets

The couple, who did not want to be named, relived the raid on their home the Kenton area of Newcastle which has been the scene of a series of similar swoops.

The 30-year-old father said: 'There were just 10 guns pointing at my face as soon as I opened the door. I'm not angry with the police - they are just doing their jobs - but why are people saying that Moat is round at our house?

'I've come down the stairs and there are about 10 guns pointing straight at me. They've left the cartridge and that's made me angry - I don't want my kid finding that.

'My daughter was at school and it's a good job she wasn't here to see what was going on.'

The mother, 26, added: 'I was told to stand in the window with my hands showing while they took out my husband and made him kneel in the street.

'I heard shouting but I didn't think anything of it. All of a sudden I realised what was happening.They were pointing guns at me and shouting. They handcuffed him and then I was led out.

'They made me give them a layout of the house and then they just went in and started looking round. We didn't even know Moat that well. We used to see him on the estate but that's as close as we got to him.

'e're told the police were phoned and told he was here - it's absolute rubbish. It was a frightening experience because they were carrying these big guns. The street has been full of people. I can't believe this has happened.'

Blunder: A policeman collects the ammunition from the house

The clear plastic magazine is branded with the words 5.56x45mm calibre - high-powered bullets used in M16 American assault rifles.

Northumbria Police were alerted to the security scare and a spokesman promised a full investigation into the matter.

'We will fully investigate the circumstances,' he said.

A neighbour who saw the swoop said: 'The dogs were on their chains outside and I heard them barking so I opened the door. There was a policeman right outside with a great big gun.

'I was terrified. He shouted at me to get back in the house. Looking out of the window I could see the police going into the house. There were about five police cars and a van, as well as dogs. They got them out of the house, I could see how frightened they looked. I felt so sorry for them."