Seige ends as gun amnesty begins

A man is being questioned by police in Sheffield following a stand-off with armed officers that lasted more than three hours.

It happened days before South Yorkshire Police begin their first-ever imitation firearms amnesty.

Officers were called to the Fox and Duck pub in the Broomhill area of Sheffield on Thursday evening when a man produced a gun that later turned out to be an imitation.

He moved on to O'Neills Irish bar, in the same road, before police cordoned off roads, houses, restaurants and shops.

The amnesty starts in July

No one was injured.

An armed response unit supported by a police helicopter managed to evacuate the bar on Fulwood Road.

The man eventually gave himself up to a police negotiator following the stand-off.

A police spokesman said: "We do not have many armed sieges in South Yorkshire but our response team is trained to deal with them.

"We would rather wait and discuss than storm a building."

'Real' threat

Police were alerted to a domestic incident involving a gun at the first pub at 1715 BST.

A man entered O'Neills at 1800 BST and the incident finished by 2130 BST.

"Last year we had an operation to stop post office robberies which were being carried out with guns or fake guns," said a police spokeswoman.

"Imitation guns can be as dangerous as the real thing."

The four-week long amnesty will begin in Sheffield next Monday.