Catherine Roots, 55, was expecting the delivery of a horse harness - but when a package arrived it turned out to be a Heckler and Koch assault rifle.
The firearm had been intended for a police headquarters two miles from Catherine's house, but was mixed up after the supplier got the postcode wrong.
Catherine said: "You just don't expect something like that to be sent by a courier, as if it was a Christmas gift or something for the house. I'm sure it could be converted to shoot live rounds or used as a threat. And there's no way you could confuse my house with the police headquarters."
The police said although it looks like the real thing, the gun was converted to produce an infrared beam for training exercises and could not fire live rounds.
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