ARMED police laid siege to a house in Colchester yesterday after reports of a man holding a mother and her three-month-old toddler hostage at gunpoint.

ARMED police laid siege to a house in Colchester yesterday after reports of a man holding a mother and her three-month-old toddler hostage at gunpoint.

Officers sealed off the area around Chapel Street North as the three-hour town centre drama began to unfold.

Neighbours reported screams coming from the end-of-terrace upstairs flat around 12.30pm, but these soon became louder and more persistent.

Police arrived at the scene and were later seen aiming guns at the property.

When they tried to negotiate with the man – believed to be in his early 20s – the "domestic" situation deteriorated, according to Chief Insp Iain Logan.

At that point, he said, the woman began screaming again and officers were ordered in.

He said: "My men managed to force entry and secure the woman and baby. The woman was in a distressed and shocked state.

"They were taken to Colchester General Hospital, but they were not injured.

"Officers also found a man in the building."

The woman and her baby daughter are believed to come from the Jaywick area.

Last night, police revealed a ball-bearing gun and a number of knives had been recovered from the address.

A next-door neighbour, who did not want to be named, said: "A lot of us all heard what was going on and just supposed it was a domestic – we didn't know whether to get involved or not.

"Then the police arrived with their guns and told me to keep away from my window. At that point, I thought there's no way I want to be a hero here.

"It was all over pretty quickly once they arrived."

A Colchester man in his early 20s was last night under arrest.