Families caught up in armed siege (From Barry And District News)

Families caught up in armed siege

FAMILIES are calling for urgent action following an armed siege at their flats which ended with a man being shot by police.

They say it is just the latest - and most serious - in a long list of incidents at the flats in Barry.

Residents were not allowed back into their homes for more than eight hours, after police riot vans and armed officers lay siege to the building on North Walk on Sunday (February 6).

Sophie Bale, aged 23, and her 21-year-old partner Leon Watkins were out when the incident occurred and their friends, who were babysitting for the couple, were trapped in a flat above the incident with three young children.

She said: "We were very worried about what had happened in the flats.

"When we returned we were not allowed to go in to get our son Bradley.

"We could see our friend holding him in the window, but we were told to stand behind a police van."

Babysitters Lyndsey Hughes and sister Emma Parish were evacuated, along with Emma's eight-year-old daughter Summer Murray-Parish, nine-month old Bradley and his three-year-old sister Chloe.

Dad Leon said: "Chloe was so traumatised by the incident that she does not want to sleep in her own bed. She has slept in our room for a couple of nights."

The incident follows recent complaints about drug users going to the area and discarding needles and rubbish outside the flats.

Vale of Glamorgan Council Operational Manager, Public Sector Housing, Nick Selwyn said: "It is very regrettable that such an incident has caused a great deal of concern and distress to a number of our tenants.

"Council officers have visited the area to discuss the situation.

"I can confirm that the residents in question are members of Homes4u and have received advice on how the scheme operates, what they need to do to secure alternative accommodation and their prospects for housing.

"However, if they wish to discuss their applications in greater detail then, like all those seeking housing in the Vale of Glamorgan, they are welcome to contact the council or its partners in Home4u to discuss the matter further."

Chief Superintendent Dave Jenkins of the Professional Standards Department said: "On the evening of Sunday, February 6, armed police officers were deployed to an incident at North Walk, Barry where a man had made threats towards police officers who were attempting to carry out an arrest.

"Armed police officers attended at the scene in response to the incident and a man was subsequently arrested.