POLICE swooped in to arrest a “serious” criminal who had been at large for “quite some time”.

Three patrol cars and a van were spotted at New Road, Brighton tonight.

The force said: “A suspect for a serious offence has been detained in an ongoing operation.

“Everyone is now safe. It is a person we have been after for quite some time who we have now detained.

“Officers will probably leave the scene within the next half hour.

“The suspect is wanted for something quite serious, I can’t tell you why.

“He was spotted, so we needed to make sure we didn’t lose him again.”