The landlady of a guest house, whose home was invaded by a drunken woman late at night, had to wait an hour for police to arrive.

Jean Wright was with her daughter and her three grandchildren at around 10.30pm when the woman walked into the bed and breakfast in Victoria Road Dartmouth, went to the family's private quarters.

The woman refused to leave and began behaving aggressively.

Mrs Wright dialled 999 and then had to wait an hour with her frightened family in the front room of the home before officers arrived.

When they arrived they found the woman in her early 40s asleep in one of the grandchildren's beds.

It emerged the woman had been staying at the bed and breakfast next door. She had gone out drinking and became confused as to where she was actually staying, said Mrs Wright.

She said the officers who had dealt with the situation had been 'marvellous' – when they eventually arrived.

Mrs Wright added that the incident had happened the night after two men had been stabbed in the town centre.

'If that woman had been someone who did want to do us harm, we would have been in trouble,' said Mrs Wright, whose husband was away at the time.

'The grandchildren were crying. They were really upset. I was frightened and so was my daughter.

'We had no idea who this woman was and what she was capable of.'

This week police apologised for the delay. Insp Andy Tomlinson said the weather conditions – fog and heavy rain – had been partially responsible for the length of time it had taken officers to get from Kingsbridge.

'We are sorry that we did not get there sooner. The officers had just finished dealing with an incident in Kingsbridge. Generally we do manage to attend incidents of that nature more quickly and we would expect to do so in the future. The matter was resolved to the lady's satisfaction when we did attend.'

Mrs Wright said she had heard someone walk through the front door of the bed and breakfast and assumed it was a guest – and then realised all the guests were in.

She found the woman at the top of the house in the area of her own private accommodation and asked her to leave.

'She just glared at me and refused to go,' she said.

Her daughter Lisa got the same response, so they dialled 999 for help.

'We didn't dare go back up the stairs,' she said. 'The officers were lovely when they arrived – very efficient and very apologetic.'

The woman was eventually marched out of the house after being found asleep in one of the visiting grandchildren's beds.

'She came to see me the next day and apologised. She said she had no recollection of what had happened.'