POLICE officers from Devon and Cornwall's armed response unit sealed off Church Street, Kingsbridge, early on Tuesday as they carried out the arrest of a 25-year-old man on suspicion of attempted murder.

At around 8am a large number of officers – many carrying loaded firearms – closed off the road and executed the action on behalf of Hampshire Constabulary. Residents were stopped from walking along Church Street and traffic was halted for an hour while police carried out the dramatic arrest.

Kristy Heard, who lives in Windsor Road, told how she came across the scene as she headed for work.

'I left home at 8.15 and as I walked out of Windsor Road I started to turn right, which is my usual route.

'Then an armed officer shouted at me not to move any closer and to turn the other way. I did!

'I walked to work via Duncombe Park where I saw that the vehicles had been stopped from going any further than the zebra crossing.'

The 25-year-old man from London was arrested on suspicion of attempted murder and was taken to Torquay police station before being returned to Hampshire, where officers are questioning him about a shooting in Southampton.

Detectives from Hampshire's major investigation team, a group of around 40 officers, have been working around the clock on the investigation which has taken them outside the county following the shooting of a 27-year-old Southampton man at 7.15pm last Sunday.

A police statement issued following the arrest in Kingsbridge said that, so far, the police investigation has included the execution of six search warrants, five at addresses in Southampton and one in Devon.

A 25-year-old man was arrested on Sunday on suspicion of attempted murder and a 15-year-old Southampton boy was arrested on Tuesday for being in possession of a Section 1 firearm.

The injured man remains in hospital where he is receiving treatment for injuries to his legs.