A REPORTED armed stand-off at a caravan park is still continuing today.
West Yorkshire Police confirmed this morning a firearms operation that began on Sunday at St Helena’s Caravan Park, off Otley Old Road in Bramhope remained “ongoing”.
Yesterday, police cars, ambulances, fire engines and the bomb squad were seen at the site – with onlookers reporting that chemical weapons specialists were present this morning.
Police said they are now trying to bring the lengthy incident to a “safe conclusion”.
West Yorkshire Police's statement, sent to the T&A at 9.12am today, said: "A firearms operation is currently ongoing at St Helena’s Caravan Park, in Bramhope, Leeds.
"Emergency services at are the scene working to bring the incident to a safe conclusion."
This morning, an onlooker said there are two fire engines parked up, as well as two ambulances, but that there does not seem to be much activity.
They added: "There's a chemical team, a breathing apparatus team.
"A police car has just shown up - there's no army, no bomb squad, no weapons.
"The crews for fire are just sat in their vehicles. There's almost nobody here."
The T&A first contacted West Yorkshire Police yesterday at 7pm, after members of the public had spotted a force helicopter hovering over the Horsforth and Leeds-Bradford Airport areas.
A spokesperson for West Yorkshire Police said an incident was ongoing and that a statement would be imminent.
One person said at 6.14pm last night: "Police helicopter is high above Horsforth and has been for ages."
Another onlooker saw one helicopter in the sky at 6.50pm, which was then joined by another force aircraft.
That was the National Police Air Service (NPAS) North-East Region's plane.
It set off from Doncaster - where it is based - at 5.53pm yesterday and arrived in the area at around 6.15pm.
The plane then spent the next five hours circling the area, before heading back to base at 11.25pm.
St Helena's is a four-star rated caravan site, which is open all year, and has 46 residential park homes, as well as space for 30 seasonal campaign pictures.
The owners of the caravan site gave “no comment” when asked about the ongoing police investigation.
Comments: Our rules
We want our comments to be a lively and valuable part of our community - a place where readers can debate and engage with the most important local issues. The ability to comment on our stories is a privilege, not a right, however, and that privilege may be withdrawn if it is abused or misused.
Please report any comments that break our rules.
Read the rules hereComments are closed on this article