POLICE have issued a strong warning about the dangers of carrying imitation firearms after five men were arrested in a quiet North-East village following a seven-hour stand-off with armed police.

Officers arrested one man at gunpoint as he drove from the scene, and three were cornered in the street outside a house in Woodside Grove, Tantobie, near Stanley, County Durham.

Police said they would always take reports of firearms on streets seriously and that there was every likelihood armed officers would respond, which could have fatal consequences.

Detective Sergeant Paul D'Eath said: "I cannot over-emphasise the very real dangers these kinds of incidents pose. They could so easily result in tragic loss of life."

The alarm was sounded shortly after 9.30am on Thursday when a member of the public reported two men walking down the street carrying what were thought to be automatic rifles.

Moments later, another person called police to say they were outside an address in the same street and that one of the men was wearing a balaclava.

Armed officers went to the scene, backed by dog-handlers. Following a tense six-hour wait, officers arrested a 20-year-old man who left the house late in the afternoon.

His car was stopped at gunpoint in the nearby village of Tanfield Lea.

An hour later, three men, aged 18, 24 and 30, were arrested by armed officers as they left the house to get in a car.

Police entered the house and discovered an imitation carbine, which officers said bore a striking resemblance to police-issue rifles.

Following a police appeal, a fifth man in his late teens handed himself in at Consett police station that evening and was arrested. All five were questioned by police on suspicion of possessing a firearm and were released on bail until the middle of next month pending inquiries.

Det Sgt D'Eath said: "The sight of guns alarm members of the public who might be passing in cars or on foot.

"From some distance away, it is impossible even for firearms trained officers to distinguish between real and imitation weapons.