POLICE who were criticised for calling in the FBI to help a search across the US for a North-East man and his "missing" family have admitted: "We got carried away."

The small police department in the town of Rainier, Oregon, asked federal agents to help in the hunt for Andrew Jones, his estranged wife and her toddler son.

They were thought to be in danger but the couple were just trying to save their troubled 12-month marriage and had sneaked away for a few days.

Mr Jones' American wife, Amanda, had not told her family he was returning to the US after a trial separation, and relatives raised the alarm when they had not heard from her for several days.

The drama ended when armed agents surrounded a motel in Seattle and arrested Mr Jones, 30, at gunpoint.

His angry wife, 29, said the ordeal was "terrifying" and criticised the police action as "heavy-handed".

But police in Rainier - described by locals as "a place where nothing ever happens" and with a population of only 1,650 - said it was Mrs Jones' family who pushed them to take her disappearance so seriously.

Sergeant Ralph Painter, part of the six-strong police department, said: "It just got out of hand.

"We are a small department, this is a small area, and we had a lot of family members thinking something bad had happened.

"They had not heard from Amanda and they jumped to a conclusion. Their fears pushed us."

Initially, it was thought the disappearance of Mrs Jones and her 18-month-old son, Justice Gallon, was linked to her husband's arrival in the US last Friday.

Mr Jones, from Thornaby, lived in Rainier after getting married last May, but left in October as police investigated domestic violence allegations.

After deciding they should make a fresh start, Mr Jones flew back and the couple tried to patch up their differences.

Sgt Painter said: "There was the fear that Amanda was going to be taken out of the country against her will.

"These fears came more from the family than from this department, but we have to look into it if someone makes that kind of report.

"It became FBI material when there were out-of-country issues."

Mr Jones is being held on $40,000 bail in Seattle on the domestic abuse allegations.