POLICE have praised a quick-thinking member of door staff at a nightclub after a man was seen brandishing a replica gun.

George Stephenson, 21, was jailed for two years after he admitted possessing an imitation firearm and driving offences.

The gun scare happened in Harvey’s Late Bar in Darlington last September when Stephenson had a replica Glock pistol, and was detained by a door supervisor.

A spokeswoman for Durham Constabulary said: “I would like to thank Harvey’s and in particular the member of door staff for their help during this incident.

“Without thought for their own safety, the member of door staff acted swiftly in disarming and detaining George Stephenson. With the co-operation of Harvey’s this has led to an early guilty plea from Stephenson. Thankfully this type of incident is incredibly rare.”

Simon Sykes, managing director of the bar in Houndgate, said: “This is an extremely rare incident but one that has made us review our security policies all the same when it happened back in September.

“The man in question held a replica gun to the neck of the person he was with. As soon as door staff were aware of the situation, they alerted police and dealt with it as if it was a credible threat by trained personnel.

“The man was quickly apprehended and restrained until police arrived and took him away. I would really like to thank our door staff for their quick thinking and brave action.

“We have increased security checks immediately afterwards as a consequence and are happy to report that we have had nothing like it or since in the ten years Harvey’s Late Bar has been operating.”