A CONVICTED criminal was back in prison last night following a dramatic arrest by armed police who swooped on his car.

Plain-clothed officers used unmarked vehicles to ram and box-in a white car on a main road into Shipley.

The 29-year-old driver was arrested and handcuffed at the side of the street as motorists looked on.

Last night a police spokesman said: "At 6.30pm yesterday, armed officers stopped a car in Leeds Road, Shipley, and arrested a 29-year-old man on suspicion of possession of an offensive weapon and money laundering. He was also wanted on recall to prison."

The arrest, described as being similar to a scene from an American police drama, was caught on camera by an onlooker.

The witness, who asked only to be named as Sean, was in his flat overlooking a lay-by near Leeds Road's junction with Thackley Old Road in Windhill, when he heard a large bang and shouting at around 6.30pm on Thursday.

"A masked man was standing in front of a white car, pointing a pistol at its windscreen and the driver," he said.

"The man with the gun had a baseball cap with 'Police' on it and had a bandana pulled up over his mouth and face.

"There were about four vehicles, including a Mercedes van, which had boxed in the white car and one looked to have had rammed it in a side door right."

The action took place beside a layby opposite the Galaxy Garage.

Sean said the officers had guns strapped to their left thighs.

"They all had masks across their faces," he said.

"It was shocking for me, and it must have been really shocking for other drivers who were down there.

"I can understand that the officers did not want to be filmed or photographed in order to protect their identities, but it really was like something you'd see in a South American police programme.

"They got the man out of the car, he looked to be a balding, white man in his early 30s, heavily built and casually dressed.

"One of the officers was standing in the road directing traffic with his mask up over his face and with his gun visible.

"It must have been worrying for drivers as his only identification was the police baseball cap.

"But it was controlled chaos and obviously they did a good job and probably practise these things hundreds of time."