Woman in gas-filled flat drama

She said her flat was filled with gas and she was holding a lighter.

Emergency services at the scene included a Green Goddess and its Royal Naval crew together with police with stab vests and riot shields. They were accompanied by an ambulance crew.

They were subjected to a tirade of abuse from the first floor window of a property in London Road near the junction with Chepbourne Road.

They found the door blocked and the woman alone in the building except for a large dog which appeared at intervals at the windows.

Police kept on-lookers back as the woman screamed at them to go away.

The focus of the emergency shifted after officers shut off the gas supply.

Later Sergeant Dave Costigan said a woman of 21 had threatened to cut the throat of the dog that she was seen to have in the flat.

"She had a knife.

"She was thought to be intoxicated and under the influence of drugs.

He said the reason that it took 90 minutes was that there was a question initially that she might have had a child with her.

"A second consideration was that even though the gas had been cut off time had to be given for it to disperse to allow a safe entry."