A courageous mother-of-two has been praised by police for disarming a man brandishing with a carving knife.

Lorraine Chedzey calmed down the 19-year-old during a domestic incident at a house in Bolnore Village, in Haywards Heath, on Sunday afternoon.

Haywards Heath Inspector Ed Henriet said: "I'm grateful for the assistance of the local community in resolving the incident."

Police were called to the estate at about 11am on Sunday after receiving reports that a woman had been assaulted.

The suspect had left the area before the police arrived, taking a kitchen knife with him.

He later returned to the address, brandishing the knife when Miss Chedzey, who lives nearby, saw the commotion and got involved.

She said she repeatedly asked the man to put the knife down and attempted to snatch it from him.

She said: "Basically, he was upset. He wasn't aiming the knife at me. But he was upset and angry. I just didn't want him to get in any more trouble than he was already in. We both knew waving a knife around wasn't a good idea. I know I was a bit of an idiot trying to grab the knife. I just didn't think."

The man eventually ran off and police deployed a dog unit and a helicopter to search for him.

Insp Henriet said: "Although he was at large for most of the afternoon he did not threaten or assault any other members of the community.

"As a routine contingency, armed officers were deployed to the area as the public and other officers may potentially have faced a man armed with a knife."

Later on Sunday the man visited Miss Chedzey's home on the estate in Brooklands.

She said: "He came to my house at about 9.30pm to apologise. He wasn't aggressive to me. When I asked for the knife he gave it to me quite willingly. The police called at my house. I went to the front door and he went out."

Insp Henriet said: "No armed officers were used in the arrest of the suspect. We received a number of calls from members of the public which helped us locate the male, who was arrested in a nearby house.

"The degree of response was necessary to protect both the victim and other people from this man. We will continue with this robust approach towards people who commit violent crime, whether in public or in the home."

A man was arrested and held in custody at Crawley police station. Michael Hitchman, from Brooklands, Bolnore Village, was charged with assault and possession of an offensive weapon.