A councillor has praised emergency services for their quick response to a "traumatic" incident in an "otherwise peaceful neck of Colchester".

Colchester police officers were called to a disturbance in Victoria Road after reports of a man armed with two knives making threats to harm others.

They secured the scene and were supported by firefighters and ambulance crews as the man barricaded himself on a second storey balcony, convincing him to surrender to them after 40 minutes.

Sam Mclean, Labour councillor for the New Town and Christ Church ward, said: "I'd like to thank the police, fire service and paramedics for their professionalism and work to peacefully de-escalate the situation.

"This event will no-doubt be traumatic for residents of Victoria Road, and my thoughts are with them.

"It was only a few years ago there was the triple murder stabbing within the same otherwise peaceful neck of Colchester."