Five men were arrested after police ended a tense, eight-hour stand-off at a flat in a Moray port by storming the building.
Officers were called to the upstairs property in Buckie’s Wallace Avenue after reports of a disturbance.
It is understood they arrived to find the door to the house blocked by a sofa and mattress and a number of people inside who refused to come out.
Officers arrived at the scene around 5.30am and spent several hours trying to negotiate with them and persuade them to come out.
But at around 3pm several officers wearing riot gear and armed with plastic shields smashed open the door of the flat with heavy battering rams.
A short time later five men, believed to be aged in their late teens and early 20s, were led from the property in handcuffs.
Two police dog units were also at the scene and a stretch of road surrounding the property was closed.
Nearby residents had been advised to stay inside during the stand-off, but dozens of onlookers gathered on the edge of the police cordon to watch the drama.
One resident said: “You see this sort of thing on the TV, but you don’t expect to see it right in front of you in the streets.”
Speaking at the scene, Chief Inspector Willie Findlay said: “This took up a lot of police resources and a lot of time, but there was never any danger to the wider public.”
Last night a police spokesman confirmed: “Officers were called to a disturbance in Wallace Avenue at 5.30am.
“The incident was resolved by 3pm and five people were detained in connection with it.”
