A quiet market town street was swarming with police, including armed units, following reports of a woman in distress.

At one point, seven police cars, including a dog team, lined the pavements in Church View, Harleston on Monday, while the road was also closed for a period of time following the call out at 9.50am.

Trained negotiators also attended and a woman was arrested and taken to the Wymondham PIC during the afternoon and the road had reopened by 5pm with a solitary police car still present at the scene.

Sgt David Burke, who is based at Diss, said: “It was an isolated and contained incident and the wider public were not in any danger.”

Albert Easteal, who lives nearby, said he knew the woman well and used to speak to her regularly on walks to the town centre.

He said: “When I used to walk down the town I used to bump into her and talk to her about what the day was like and what was going on in the world. I know she liked her gardening.”