Stand-off in Washington as armed police negotiate with woman

Police were called to an address in the Oxclose area of Washington earlier today.

Officers have been negotiating with a "woman in distress" for much of the day.

At teatime on Tuesday, six police cars were at the scene with two ambulances on standby.

A spokesman for Northumbria Police said: “Officers are currently dealing with an ongoing incident in the Oxclose area of Washington.

“Police are at the scene negotiating with a woman in distress.

“We would ask members of the public to avoid gathering in the area to allow officers to carry out their inquiries.”

One neighbour, who did not wish to be named, said: "The first I knew that something was happening was when I heard lots of motorbikes at 5am this morning.

"I looked on Facebook and plenty has been said on there, but it's hard to know what's true and not.

"The police have been outside the house throughout the day and seem to have been very careful with the way they've handled it.

"Hopefully it will be sorted soon so everything can go back to normal."

Another resident said: "The police have been there all day and it's unsettling to see this in your area.

"It's a quiet area most of the time, although there have been quite a few incidents recently.

"Plenty of people nearby have been watching what's happening and it's quite frightening to see so many armed police here, but they seem to have been doing a good job keeping the situation calm."