Police raid home of Blunkett Bobby after infrared helicopter mistook bad insulation for cannabis factory

When the police helicopter's infra-red camera detected something unusual, officers were quick to act.

The building was 'bright'  -  sometimes an indication that warm lamps are being used to help cultivate a drug crop.

Scanning the monitor an officer said: 'There's a house that's doing a glow in the dark  -  I'm thinking it might be cannabis related.'

Two colleagues were duly dispatched to the property  -  only to find it was the home of police community support officer Zally Huseyin.

The glow had been caused by poor roof insulation and not, as they had suspected, the powerful lights typically used in drug factories.

Mrs Huseyin, 46, has told how she was horrified when the officers, who recognised her from work, arrived to search her £400,000 detached home in Cambourne, Cambridgeshire.

'When I saw the squad car I thought it was colleagues just popping in for a cup of tea,' the mother of five said. 'They said if I hadn't been in they'd have to have broken the door down.'

Police use helicopter heat monitoring to spot houses where cannabis is grown indoors under light that generates a bright white trace on infra-red cameras.

Glowing: Steve and Zally's home on infra-red camera shows massive amounts of heat coming out of the roof

Ray of light: The couple's house can clearly be seen in the camera's view finder

The officers showed her the helicopter DVD that had aroused their suspicions. But a search of the four-year-old house only found shoddy insulation.

Mrs Huseyin, who has been a PCSO, otherwise known as a Blunkett's bobby, since March 2007, said: 'I'm so embarrassed.'

A Cambridgeshire Police spokesman confirmed the heat source was traced to poor loft insulation.

A real cannabis factory, discovered at a house in Dagenham, East London

Mrs Huseyin and her husband Steve, a 46-year-old garage owner, have lived in the five-bedroom house for less than 18 months. The incident has fuelled their anger about what they claim is the house's poor design.

'These houses are meant to be environmentally and economically friendly but last year's gas bill was £1,000. I feel I've been ripped off,' she added.

David Bell, managing director of builders David Wilson Homes South Midlands, said he had been contacted by Mrs Huseyin regarding concerns over energy efficiency.

After conducting additional investigations the firm 'found the home complies with all the relevant standards'.