Armed police in seven-hour siege in Whitby

ARMED police were called in to deal with a seven-hour siege after a man barricaded himself in a house in North Yorkshire and threatened to harm himself with a knife.

The man had barricaded himself into the kitchen of the house in Whitby late yesterday, using a fridge-freezer to block the door.

A firearms support unit from North Yorkshire Police was deployed to the scene, while specialist negotiators talked to the man through the kitchen window.

The man was becomingly increasingly agitated throughout the siege, but Inspector Mark Grange, of Whitby Safer Neighbourhood Team, paid tribute to the efforts of the officers to bring the incident to a peaceful conclusion.

Insp Grange added: “This was a difficult and potentially dangerous situation which was expertly handled by the officers involved.