A woman who claimed she was the victim of a burglary has accused police of branding her a liar.

An investigation into the alleged break-in was called off because inquiry detectives did not believe her claims.

Tinofara Chawatama told police a laptop, mobile phone and wallet were stolen from her home in Humberstone Road, Leicester, in December.

Two weeks later, she received a letter from Detective Sergeant Paula Lawson stating no witnesses had been found and no CCTV, or forensic evidence was available.

The officer said the force would be deleting the report from police records and calling off the investigation as she did "not believe this is a genuine report of a house burglary".

Miss Chawatama said since lodging a formal complaint the case had been reopened.

She said the initial response left her "angry and upset".

"We told them everything they needed to know and they turned round and told us we were liars and had made it up.

"From a very young age, you are told if you are in trouble to ring the police, so I did at a time when I was feeling very vulnerable because someone had been in my property, but they made us out to be the bad people," she said.

Miss Chawatama and her fiance, who asked to remain anonymous, were told by Det Sgt Lawson that an officer who interviewed them the day after the alleged break-in raised concerns after the couple "attempted to secrete a debt letter" and failed to give an explanation that the officer was "happy" with.

The couple said they simply removed the letter, along with other paperwork and a remote control, from a table so it could be used for the interview.

They said it was a letter collected from another address on behalf of a friend.

Issue was also raised about "numerous valuable items" not taken in the burglary.

Miss Chawatama said the only items of any value not taken were a Nintendo Wii and a collection of DVDs.

However, as a result of the officer's concerns Det Sgt Lawson wrote: "Your crime has been investigated and as a result of these inquiries I do not believe that this is a genuine report of a house burglary.

"In light of my findings, your report will be deleted from our systems."

Miss Chawatama wrote a formal letter of complaint to Leicestershire Constabulary.

In February, she was told a senior officer had been appointed to conduct an inquiry.

A police spokesman confirmed the case was marked as "under investigation" on its records.

Miss Chawatama said: "There was probably very little chance of finding the property in the first place, but now I fear it is next to zero."

A spokeswoman for Leicestershire Constabulary said: "A formal complaint has been received by our Professional Standards Department and is under investigation.

"As a result of this, it is inappropriate to comment further at this stage."