A MAN has been arrested after armed officers was called to a County Durham house on Sunday night.

Police were called to the house in Saxon Green, in Escomb, near Bishop Auckland, at around 6.50pm following reports that a man had threatened members of the public with a weapon.

Armed officers were deployed and a cordon put in place around the property while specially trained negotiators worked at the scene.

Officers entered the property shortly after 1.30am and arrested a 48-year-old man on suspicion of affray. He remains in police custody.

On social media, residents described the bottom end of the village being on 'lock-down' and said the operation appeared to be focussed on one residential property.

At around 10pm, a spokesperson for Durham police told The Northern Echo there was no perceived threat to the wider public but they were asked not to interfere.

Force incident manager Darren Stephenson said: "There is an ongoing police incident which we have been dealing with since about 7pm, it is currently a fluid incident.

"We have the full range of officers, armed and unarmed police and the fire brigade in attendance.

"The wider, general public is not at risk."