A man has been arrested following an incident in which armed riot police surrounded a block of flats after a man allegedly threatened to blow himself up in Ipswich.

The 43-year-old has been taken into police custody, detained on suspicion of causing an affray, a Suffolk Police spokeswoman confirmed.

Officers were called to Iris Close in Chantry at 7.45pm yesterday to reports a man was throwing furniture from his top floor flat window.

The man, who was thought to be having some sort of family dispute, is alleged to have threatened to blow up the block of flats by heating fertiliser in a microwave. There were also alleged reports the man had a gun.

A force spokesman said an ambulance was called to wait on stand-by.

Last night he said: “We are waiting to see what happens. We are not going to force anything. We are in for the long haul.”

He confirmed the man had been shouting at officers.

Residents were trapped in their homes throughout the stand-off.

Witnesses reported up to 11 police cars and a riot van in the area.

An officer at the scene said the man had thrown “almost everything possible” including furniture out of his flat.

Police were seen outside the man’s flat trying to talk to him and get him to calm down.

Officers set up a cordon and closed the road off as motorists drove into the area trying to get home.

Drivers initially waited patiently but frustrations grew as the stand-off continued into the night.