Roughly 80 people have been evacuated from their homes in west London after a stand-off between armed police and a man with "hazardous items". Dozens of police vans descended onto a property in Wood End Lane, Northolt, near Wembley in the early hours of Saturday (22 October) where a perimeter has been set up.

A man is said to be in the property, however police have not attempted to enter for fear of his and their safety.

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A spokesman for London's Metropolitan Police said: "Police attended an address in Wood End Lane, Northolt, shortly after 0.50am after a report of concerns for the occupant and hazardous items inside the property.

"Due to concerns for safety of the man at the address and the responding officers, police did not attempt to access the property.

"Police cordons are in place, at a 200-metre radius, to facilitate the ongoing policing operation. Armed officers and negotiators are present.

"For safety reasons, approximately 80 people have been temporarily re-housed from the immediate area of the address.

"At this stage police believe there is one man inside the address. Whilst it is not known what the man has inside the property, police are treating seriously reports that the items could be dangerous and that attempts have been made by the man to prevent access to the address."

Police have said the stand-off is not terror related and are working alongside teams from London Fire Service and London Ambulance Service.

Dr Rekha Elaswarapu told the London Evening Standard: "I was driving to the [Northolt] leisure centre at around 7.45am and I just saw police vans everywhere. When I eventually got there, five vans were parked at the leisure centre. We don't know what is happening. I have never seen anything like this on such a mass scale in Northolt."

Passersby were tweeting:

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