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A pensioner was stunned to receive a visit from the police who told her if she failed to return footballs kicked into her garden she could be charged with theft.

Penny Freeman, 73, has spent £3,000 on the walled garden at her Victorian semi in Bridlington, East Yorkshire. 

But she says the children living in the houses adjacent are wreaking havoc with her hard work - as they keep ballooning balls over the 1.5 metre high wall and smashing her plants.

Penny Freeman, 73, is unhappy that her neighbours are kicking football into her garden

With no-one coming round to fetch back the balls or apologise for the damage, Penny decided to keep the balls so the children would 'learn the consequences'.

But the 73-year-old was mystified when her neighbours complained their balls weren't being returned - and two officers  turned up at her door.

The officers warned Ms Freeman that she could be charged with theft if she didn't hand the balls back.

But she questioned why the neighbours hadn't asked for the balls back themselves, saying: 'The children don't say, 'please can I have my ball back, I am sorry'.

'It is beyond the pale. It seems you don't need to ask for your balls back, you just call the police.

This is the garden that Ms Freeman has spent £3,000. She said: 'We put so much work into this garden'

'Everyone I have told this to says, "you are kidding".

'The police came round and said we hear you are having trouble with footballs.

'I thought, "Oh my God, this is not happening".

'They told me I was not allowed to keep the footballs and I had to return them. I said I had no intention of keeping the balls.

'I wanted the children to learn the consequences. This year we've had balls come over about 10 times.'

She blasted the heavy-handed approach, adding: 'Perhaps I should call 999 every time a ball comes over and cite criminal damage.

'They said I would be guilty of theft if I kept the balls. If I keep it am I going to have my collar felt and a caution applied?

'It's taking a sledgehammer to crack a walnut.'

Ms Freeman, who lives at the Victorian semi in with her brother James Fudge, has spent thousands of pounds on the garden.

But her pride and joy has come under fire from wayward footballs and Frisbees flying over the wall since she moved in five years ago.

She said: 'Last year, we thought we would keep the balls for a week and see if they would come and ask for them back.

'They never did. We had 10 balls in our shed.

'We only kept them for a week. We had no intention of destroying them.

The goaposts in the next-door house that the children are aiming for when the balls fly into Ms Freeman's garden

'This year, we thought we would do the same thing but the police came round.

'I am very, very angry.

'We put so much work into this garden, we are both in our mid-70s.

'It's not as if we are bitter and twisted old so and sos.

'The police were very nice but I was left feeling should a ball land in the garden, I must rush out immediately and return it.'

Ms Freeman also questioned whether the visit to her home wasn't just a waste of Humberside Police's resources and time, adding: 'We like to get on with our neighbours,' she said.

'We are reasonable people and are parents ourselves.'

The mother of the two boys, aged 11 and six, insisted that she has offered to pay for any damage caused, but was too scared of her neighbour to pop over and get the balls back herself.

Ms Freeman, who lives at the Victorian semi in with her brother James Fudge, was threatened she could be charged with theft

The neighbour, who did not want to be named, said: 'My children don't want to go once the ball has gone over, she claims we have smashed plants on a couple of occasions.

'I don't send them round anymore, she's a bit rude.

'I am scared of her, I am not sending my children. It has been going on since they moved in.

'We just want them to chuck the balls back over the wall.

'I know it can be a bit of a nuisance, I do understand, it's just one of those things.

'They are not little terrors or anything like that, they are just normal kids.'

A Humberside Police spokeswoman said: 'A Police Community Support Officer has visited both parties involved in a neighbour dispute in the Vernon Road area of Bridlington.

'Words of advice have been offered to take steps to resolve the matter.

'Our police community support officers are best placed to deal with and mediate in matters of this nature and are keen to offer practical advice and solutions to prevent situations escalating further.'