ARMED police descended on a village last night after a dramatic chase ended in a field.

The peace was shattered in Coxhoe, between Durham and Sedgefield, as the armed officers, plus the police dog section, aircraft and helicopter were deployed.

Three men and a woman, from Hartlepool, were in custody last night after the lengthy police pursuit ended when officers eventually forced the white Ford Fiesta - which also contained a young girl - to stop.

The drama began shortly before 4pm when Durham Police were alerted by Cleveland Police that the Fiesta, which had failed to stop for officers in Stockton, was travelling to Durham along the A689.

Officers suspected at least one of the occupants of the car to be responsible for serious offences in the Cleveland area, and it was feared they might also have firearms.

The car was chased through numerous villages in County Durham, including Fishburn, Trimdon, Trimdon Grange and Coxhoe, then towards Bowburn interchange, where the car travelled the wrong way round a roundabout.

The vehicle headed back towards Coxhoe, before going south on the B6291, then back into Coxhoe. There the car crashed through a fence and into one field before going into another.

The Fiesta was driven around the field for a long time while police tried to get the driver to stop. A police negotiator was even called. At 6.20pm, the driver dialled 999 on a mobile phone to indicate he wanted to give himself up and half an hour later the car finally came to a halt.

The occupants got out of the car and complied with instructions given by armed officers. One was a 44-year-old woman with a three-year-old girl, believed to be her daughter.

The woman and the three men, aged 20, 26 and 30, are in custody in Durham City police station and are expected to be questioned by officers from Cleveland today.

The girl was escorted back to her home in Hartlepool.