A dad-of-one suffering depression sparked this siege in Woodley on Wednesday night after he threatened to blow himself up.

The 38-year-old inside his house in Cypress Road called police at 8.10pm saying he had explosives in his house. Police then closed roads all the way around from Colemansmoor Road through Oak Drive and across Redwood Avenue until after midnight.

Neighbours were either locked in or out of their houses while an armed response unit was deployed with police vehicles, fire engines and ambulances.

Around 15 police officers attended including two from the armed response unit. The siege continued while police spoke to the man through the letterbox eventually persuading him out at around 11.45pm. He has since been arrested for communicating a bomb threat and detained under the Mental Health Act.

One woman, who lives on the road but did not want to be named, said: “I spoke to him the other day and he told me he was off work and on medication. Him and his wife had lived in the house for about six years and they had a little boy.

“They are a lovely family. He is very quiet and works for the post office and she is a nurse. I heard he was threatening to kill himself with a knife and at first they were worried the little boy was in the house but he apparently was somewhere else. With this and the murder around the corner on the same day, it’s shocking. Woodley is normally so quiet.”

Police spokesman Adam Fisher said: “Officers attended and negotiated with the man until he was safely removed from the house. The property was checked by officers and no explosives found. No one else was in the property.”

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