A BEMUSED couple claim that children were milling around the scene of a triple shooting for nearly an hour before police turned up to examine the area.

Former headmistress Sheila Doig said her and her husband Alex had phoned police after hearing gunshots in Kitchener Road, High Wycombe.

Mrs Doig told the Free Press the shock revelation that after the shooting, just before 6am on April 11, no officers turned up to secure the scene until 50 minutes after the 999 call was made.

She added that in the meantime, a lot of children and alarmed residents were milling around the street where 15-year-old Jhanghir Khan and his two brothers had been shot, before scenes of crimes officers arrived.

She added: "We phoned the police but it was definitely about an hour before they got there. I was thinking 'what the hell is happening'.

"Eventually a squad car arrived and police in padded shirts were walking up the road with guns, but there had been loads of children wandering round the street before that."

Police later cordoned off the road, but Mr Doig said a lot of workers were driving over the scene of the crime to go to factories nearby.

However, in a statement from Superintendent Mick Doyle, dealing with the case, he said they were called at 5.54am and already knew that the injured victims had been taken to hospital.

He added: "Officers arrived there at 6.10am to ensure the victims were safe. An armed response vehicle arrived in Kitchener Road at 6.39am."

But, in response to members of the public milling round the crime scene, he said: "Public safety is paramount evidence gathering is second to people's safety."

He added in the interests of the safety, all efforts are made to approach the scene with extreme caution and balance the immediacy of the incident with the wider safety issues.

Jhanghir Khan suffered gunshot wounds to the head and his condition at John Radcliffe Hospital in Oxford was said to be improving.