'We Were Surprised to Uncover This to Say the Very Least'

For a minute there I thought maybe the authorities stumbled across Barney Frank's apartment or the employee lounge at Media Matters headquarters.

Police called to a home in a sleepy village were shocked to find a sex dungeon containing Nazi uniforms, whips, chains, sex toys and cattle prods.

Officers were alerted after neighbours reported 'unusual behaviour' and 'strange sounds' coming from the four-bedroom semi in Lee Mill, Devon.

Police arrived with battering rams to raid the home but a plain clothes officer knocked on the door and the residents let him in thinking he had an appointment.

The sex 'dungeon' was found in a converted first floor room filled with hundreds of items including whips, gas masks, wooden bats, handcuffs, clothes pegs and shackles.

Police also discovered bondage chairs with straps, straight jackets, sex toys, gimp masks, S&M outfits, shackles, cattle prods and car batteries used to power the toys.

The dungeon was also stuffed with 'various electrical vibrating' items and a recording studio complete with computer equipment and mixing desk.

During the raid, one customer arrived at the home and still asked for his appointment to go ahead despite the large police presence.

Detective Sergeant Stuart Gilroy of Devon and Cornwall police said officers made the 'startling' discovery last Friday afternoon.

He said: 'We were surprised to uncover this to say the very least. Upon searching the house we found a room set up as a dungeon.

'It's fair to say we were not expecting to find a masochistic dungeon in sleepy Lee Mill. You don't expect to find this sort of thing anywhere.

In the dungeon alone we discovered bondage chairs with straps, gimp masks, whips, shackles and various electrical vibrating items. Hundreds of items were seized at the address.'