A secret hunt for a body caused police officers to go undercover as drainage workers and dig up part of a Southpart family's garden.

The operation placed 42-year-old Amanda Kennedy's home at the centre of the Merseyside Police search and left her, and her family, "traumatised."

Officers say that they kept the operation secret for Amanda's own protection but the the 42-year-old still lives in fear that there was more to the investigation than she has been told,

Amanda said: "It's actually hilarious, it's so funny.

"It is like a tragic-comedy and we are the stars of it. All I have ever wanted to do is bring my kids up and bother nobody."

In response to her concerns Merseyside Police, which has acknowledged officers searched her garden, confirmed the investigation "was connected to previous residents".

Amanda moved near to her parents in Southport in December 2010, relocating from Ireland with her husband and three boys.

Just weeks later their rented Hawthorne Grove home became the centre of a major operation that no-one - apart from the force - knew about.

First, the family was called to say drainage issues meant workmen needed access to her garden.

She said they agreed for this to take place after speaking to their landlord.

Amanda, house-bound and recovering from a fall at the time, then watched as that work took place weeks later.

But she said she became increasingly suspicious as the workmen quizzed her over her personal life.

This led to the 42-year-old challenging the strangers in her home - accusing them of being undercover police.

Her suspicions proved to be right and she was told officers had been working on a body search.

Merseyside Police said staff were at the home for one day and Amanda signed a pocket notebook to say she was "satisfied" with her dealings with police.

Yet Amanda, who insists she has no issue with the behaviour of officers, disputes signing a notebook and said she had always hoped for further details that never came.

Concerned over the impact the investigation may have had on her sons, she said she told their school about what happened.

However, she believes a combination of her bizarre story and the injuries she had sustained through her fall led to her family coming to the attention of social services.

Scared by what she believed was the twin threat of having her children taken from her and having been at the centre of a police operation she had little explanation for, Amanda and her husband fled Merseyside and effectively went into hiding with their youngsters.

Despite her fears, she maintained there could be a simple explanation for what happened - that when she was moving in someone may have seen a whale bone owned by her archaeologist partner and mistaken it for a human body part.

She said: "All I wanted was someone to say I had over-reacted and ask us to come back so they could give an explanation.

"I was hoping I had over-reacted, I was out of my mind."

But events took a further twist when she asked solicitors to try and get an explanation.

Months after the investigation a legal letter on behalf of then force chief constable Jon Murphy, seen by the ECHO, dramatically undermined the whale bone theory.

It said: "Our clients [Merseyside Police] received a report from a previous tenant stating that she had seen a male bring a bag into her then home, which contained a body.

"She stated that she believed the male had buried the body in the garden.

"Our clients did not wish to cause your client or the landlord distress, nor did they wish to notify the alleged offender, if he still lived in the area.

"As such they spoke to the landlord of the property to establish that no major works had been undertaken to the garden and thereafter posed as drainage workers to try and investigate this extremely serious allegation.

"It is clear that our clients were trying to protect Ms Kennedy and were not acting maliciously."

The explanation offered little closure to the mum.

She found the line she had been lied to by officers "trying to protect" her as particularly chilling.

With no further details it led to her fearing police may have had intelligence that she too was under threat.

Amanda, who was seeking to work in nursing before her fall, refused a settlement offer of £500 for trespassing.

She said she was breaking her silence nine years later in the hope it would lead to more answers.

Amanda, who now lives near Hull, added: "I think someone made a horrible mistake and they don't want to admit it. As a result they have driven us to the point of insanity for no reason."

In response Merseyside Police confirmed officers searched the garden of a home in Hawthorne Grove "in response to intelligence in relation to a suspected body being buried".

The force said the investigation "was connected to previous residents" and took less than a day to complete.

No body was found.

Documents related to the probe have since been destroyed due to laws over the length of time records can be kept.

A spokesperson said: "An offer was made via Civil Litigation to the value of £500 for trespassing, but this was not responded to and has now timed out under the Limitation Act. No further contact was received by the occupant or solicitors in respect of this matter.

"A separate complaint was also received by our Professional Standards Unit but this was exempted by the Independent Office of Police Conduct under their regulations. This too has now been filed."

The investigation by IOPC, the police watchdog, found there was no case to answer.