A MAN surrendered to police last night, following a dramatic siege.

Police officers - some wearing riot gear - cordoned off terraced flats at Hemlington, near Middlesbrough.

Trained negotiators were then called in to talk to the man, who was threatening to kill himself.

After a five-and-a-half hour stand-off, a scruffily dressed man was seen to emerge from the house, surrounded by officers wearing helmets with protective visors.

The man, who appeared to have a leg injury, hobbled towards an unmarked police car.

One of the officers then took the man's crutches from him.

Police said the man was "taken into custody for treatment to a medical disorder".

The siege at the terraced house in Boscombe Gardens, began at lunchtime yesterday.

A Cleveland Police spokeswoman said officers had been called "after a man threatened to harm himself and would not come out of his house."

Police said there was no one else involved and no risk to the public.

However, officers isolated the area, cordoning off the street with incident tape, as police dog handlers and vehicles remained on stand-by.

The police spokeswoman said: "Following negotiations with the person concerned, the incident came to a satisfactory conclusion."

Police would not say whether the man had been disarmed of any weapon.