Armed police sealed off part of a leafy residential road when neighbours were terrified by a rowing couple's gun threats.

Officers raced to Bellbanks Road, Hailsham, after the argument spilled on to the street.

People living nearby made a 999 call fearing one of the pair had a weapon.

Police from Hailsham contacted specially-trained officers at the Armed Response Unit, who were brought in as back-up.

Patrol cars blocked off a stretch of the road as police wearing body armour went in to search one of the houses at 2.30pm yesterday.

Two officers returned a few minutes later carrying a clear plastic bag containing what appeared to be an air pistol.

The weapon was seized by forensic teams for examination.

One woman was arrested. She was being questioned about the incident today.

Neighbours were shocked by the commotion in their usually quiet street.

One said: "I heard all the police racing past with their sirens blaring but I was too scared to go outside. Someone said there was a gun involved. It's the first time I've ever heard anything like that happening here."

Another neighbour said she believed a man lived alone in the cottage, which is set back from the winding road.

She said: "I saw a police woman coming out of the house carrying what looked like a piece of wood.

"The chap who lives there has been here for quite a few years."

A police spokesman said the armed officers were brought in for back-up and were stood down once uniform PCs had calmed the row.

This morning life in the quiet road, opposite the pretty Common Pond, had returned to normal with no sign of the drama.

The hedge-lined road with its collection of terraced houses, bungalows and larger homes, is near the town's Station Road Industrial Estate and Farmers' Market.