Man, 30, held over self harm standoff

A MAN was arrested after an incident in a North Yorkshire village which lead to a street being evacuated in the middle of the night.

Police told residents on East View in Hellifield, near Skipton, to leave their homes just after midnight after they received reports of a distressed man threatening to harm himself.

The area was cordoned off and villagers spent the night at a school. They eventually returned to their homes after the incident was resolved at around 8am yesterday, when the man came out of the property voluntarily.

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The 30-year-old was arrested at the scene and has been taken to Airedale General Hospital for a precautionary check.

Chief Supt Ali Higgins, from North Yorkshire Police, said: “I am very pleased that we have been able to bring this situation to a safe conclusion.

“I would like to take this opportunity to thank the local residents, who needed to be evacuated, for their support and cooperation during the course of the morning’s events.

“I would also like to thank North Yorkshire County Council for assisting us to ensure that those people who had to leave their homes in the early hours had the support they needed.”

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The nearby A65 was closed due to the incident and diversions were put in place.

Sarah Alexander, co-owner of Ahernes of Hellifield, a business half a mile away from the incident, said it had been a major event in the village.

Speaking yesterday, she said: “There have been a lot of police cars and ambulances in the village, certainly in the morning.

“We felt concerned when we saw the amount of police around as we are a small rural village.

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“The road was closed in the morning but they had a diversion in place which took people straight past the store which proved to be quite useful.

“However, I am from the other side of Skipton so it was a long route to get into work in the morning. They have reopened the road now.”