AN incident which brought Bewdley to a standstill and saw armed police swoop on the town was over concerns for the safety of a man who brandishing two axes.

West Mercia Police arrived at the scene in Load Street at around 4.40pm on Wednesday (October 19).

The man was armed with two axes during the incident.

A spokesman for West Mercia said: "The individual was in the possession of two axes whilst inside the private residence. 

"These items remained within the property throughout the incident and there was no evidence to suggest these posed a risk to the wider community."

There were eight police cars and four armed reponse vans at the scene, according to a local resident.

A police presence remains at the scene this morning (Thursday, October 20).

West Mercia Police Superintendent Kevin Purcell said: "We were made aware of reports concering a vulnerable man who threatening to harm himself in a private residence.

"Firearms officers were deployed as additional support to ensure a safe resolution and prevent any wider threat to the community.

"The incident was resolved yesterday evening, nobody was injured and we will work with our partner agencies to ensure the man involved is fully supported."

Hereford Times:

(^^ Picture by Kirsty Yeomans​)

Eyewitnesses said a man had barricaded himself in a flat above a shop in street, before later fleeing the scene.

The police reportedly told locals to step back from the scene, while others were told to stay inside shops and pubs.

Armed police left the scene shortly before 6pm, but scores of officers still remained at the scene afterwards.

Up until around 5.50pm, the bridge had been closed and the High Street has been closed between Load Street and Redhill. This caused huge traffic congestion in the area, particularly on Bewdley bypass.

The Mayor of Bewdley, Councillor John Beeson, who was shopping in the town at the time said the scene was "alarming".

Cllr Beeson said: "There were nine police cars with flashing lights parked up in Load Street. Quite a large group of onlookers had gathered to see what all the fuss was about.

"As I neared Tesco, the armed police were assembling and I saw a team enter the front door to the flats above La Petite Cafe with a dog and what looked like battering rams.

"One firearm officer had his gun trained on the first floor windows, which was slightly alarming.

"Police officers then asked the ever increasing crowd of people to move further up Load Street away from the incident and halted all the traffic through Load Street."

Cllr Beeson added: "After about half an hour the firearm squad stood down and we were all told it was safe to proceed normally.

"The police left the scene around 6.15pm."

For our coverage from the incident as it unfolded on Wednesday afternoon, click here.