WHEN the police arrived at Florinda Medus's Southampton flat in the middle of the night asking if anybody had been murdered she was speechless.

The mum-of-two literally couldn't say a word - because of the two teeth she'd had removed earlier in the day.

But as the two officers stood on the doorstep of her Bitterne flat waiting for the truth the penny dropped.

Her cries of anguish which had led to alarm bells among neighbours had not been because she was screaming blue murder, more a case of howling about crumbling molars.

"I'd had two back teeth out earlier in the day in emergency surgery.

"I had some painkillers but they were wearing off and then I found I'd run out. I suppose I was screaming because it hurt so much," said the 22-year-old.

The officers had been dispatched to her third-floor flat at Keynsham Road, from nearby Bitterne police station.

"I couldn't believe it when I heard the door and saw them standing there at three in the morning," said Florinda.

"When I tried to explain it to them and showed them my mouth they could see I was in pain. When they realised what had happened they just started laughing, and who can blame them

"I must have looked a right sight. My face was all puffed up and everything from the operation.

"They realised that whoever had called them had got the wrong end of the stick."

Boyfriend Steven Turner, 26, said; "It was quite a shock to see them standing there but I guess it shows you shouldn't eat too many sweets."

He added: "The ceilings and floors are so thin here that you can hear someone downstairs coughing so it's not that surprising."

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