An hour long armed siege ended after a man was talked out of a house by police officers.

The drama began at 9.10pm last night when a member of the public called police, claiming a man had locked himself in a house in Rotherfield Avenue, Eastbourne, with a gun, knife and a can of petrol.

Fourteen officers from the East Downs division attended the scene including members of the dog unit and firearms unit.

The road was sealed off to the public and firefighters were called to the scene as a safety precaution.

Specially-trained officers negotiated with the man who gave himself up one hour later and was arrested at the scene.

No one else was believed to be in the house.

Next door neighbour Linda Kennard said she had watched the drama from her window.

She said: "We weren't told what was going on. We just knew the neighbour wouldn't come out of the house."

A man was in custody this morning at Eastbourne police station.

He was arrested on suspicion of threats to kill and cause actual bodily harm.