ARMED police have been locked in a stand-off for more than 24 hours with a pensioner who is believed to have a gun. 

Officers were first called to a house in Harbour Road, Pagham, at 4.10pm yesterday after reports of threatening behaviour.

This morning police said the man remains in the property alone and is still thought to have the weapon. Emergency services and firearms officers are outside the house on standby and trained police negotiators are continuing to talk with him.

A police cordon is still in place and the road has been shut off. No-one has been injured so far, a police spokesman said.

Detective superintendent Carwyn Hughes said: "I would like to thank the local community for their patience and understanding while we deal with this ongoing situation.

"Harbour Road remains closed and a cordon around the area is still in place.

"The safety of local residents is our priority and we are doing all we can to make sure their daily routines and Bank Holiday plans are not disrupted. People living in properties along Harbour Road are free to come and go with police support.

"Communication between a trained negotiator and the 72-year-old man in the house continues.”

Earlier detective superintendent Nick Sloan said the safety of the community was the police's "utmost priority". He hoped the situation would be resolved as "quickly and safely as possible".

The road sits in the quiet village on a dirt track between the seafront and a nature reserve.

Landscape gardener Trevor Hawkins, 54, said he could see four police officers from his home which has been taped off as part of the cordon.

He said: "I went out at about 6.30am and offered the policeman a cup of tea. He did not give much away but said that it could seem like it could go on for a long time.

"Down this street, on the whole, everybody is quite friendly and says good morning so for something like this to happen is totally out of the ordinary."

He said that police are "all out at the nature reserve at the back so it is quite a big thing".

Officers with police dogs arrived this morning and there remains nearly 20 police officers there, including five who are armed.
Two police cars, four vans and an ambulance have also been seen in the usually peaceful road.
Semi-retired interior designer Alistair Black this afternoon said he believes an elderly couple live at the house, where the pensioner has barricaded himself inside.
The 77-year-old, who has lived on the road for 14 years, added: "I've seen the couple around who live at that house but I don't know them.
"There's nothing unusual about them from what I've seen, they are just an elderly couple.
"I think they've lived here since before we moved in.
"We have been told to stay indoors, there is a man in a house a few doors down from me.
"They are trying to coax him out.
"I think it is sad - he has probably flipped. But it's not a dangerous situation for us or anything.
"There are quite a few police cars down at the bottom.
"I've seen about 18 officers, including about five armed police, and around 12 cars.
"We found out at about 6pm yesterday when we were about to leave the house and the police ushered us back inside."
Another neighbour Mike Hill, 66, who is an electrical designer, said: "I've heard there was a bit of a fracas between a husband and wife.
"I took the dogs for a walk yesterday at about 7.30pm and was going up the far side of the road when police told me to get back.
"We aren't allowed to go further up the road. I don't know what's going on.
"Last night I saw about six officers and at least four vans.
"At first we thought it must have been something to do with immigration."