Armed police descended on a house in Heckmondwike in the early hours after reports of a man with an axe.

Residents on Hill Top Estate were awoken at around 2am on Sunday to the sound of screeching tyres and shouting.

A resident, who asked not to be named, said as many as 10 police vehicles – some with armed officers – arrived on the scene.

The man said: “There was a lot of shouting and screaming and five police cars arrived in convoy.

“There was the sound of cars braking and skidding and officers with guns got out and started flashing lights at a house. There were 10 cars in total.

“A man was brought out and there was screaming from the house.”

Insp Mark Birkett, force duty officer for West Yorkshire Police , confirmed officers were called at 1.45am to reports of a man in a rear garden armed with an axe.

He said a man aged about 30 was arrested for a “separate offence.”