ARMED police stormed a block of flats in Southchurch and appeared to arrest a man inside.

Units of police armed with machine guns stormed Christchurch Court on Southchurch Road at about 6.30pm, making their way to a flat on the first floor where, according to witnesses, they broke the door down and arrested a man wearing a light blue t-shirt and a baseball cap.

Armed police officers guarded the entrance to the flats and ensured passers-by did not stray anywhere near to the crime scene.

The man in the blue t-shirt was seen at the foot of an open stairwell in handcuffs while being guarded by armed police officers.

One resident of the block, who did not want to be named, said: “I heard all the arguments before it kicked off, and it was bad.

“My guess is it’s a drug-related domestic, and the whole estate is in a bit of a tiz at the moment, because there have been two drug warrants here in the last year.

“I moved in recently and the first thing I asked the council was whether there were any drug problems, which they said there weren’t.

“On my first night, police executed a section 25 search warrant because Somalians had taken over someone’s flat.”