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Watch: David Cameron visited the temple last year. Video courtesy of Conservatives.

Fifty-five men have been arrested following an eight-hour protest at a Sikh temple in Leamington which saw armed police called to the scene.

Armed officers surrounded the Gurdwara Sahib in Tachbrook Park Drive shortly before 7am on Sunday after a group of men with knives stormed the building.

Up to 30 men were said to have entered the temple - one of the biggest outside India - in a protest believed to be about mixed marriages.

It is not known if the knives the men were carrying were kirpans - short swords legally allowed to be worn by Sikhs as a symbol of their faith.

Negotiations between the protectors, the police and religious leaders continued throughout the day.

(Image: Perry Phillips)

Warwickshire Police said the incident was being treated as an “aggravated trespass” and that it was part of an “ongoing local dispute”.

Police negotiators and local religious entered the building during the morning in a bid to bring the confrontation to a peaceful conclusion. At 4.30pm Warwickshire Police said the incident was still ongoing.

The B4087 Tachbrook Park Drive was closed for most of the day closed in both directions between the Queensway junction and the Heathcote Lane junction.

Look: Then Prime Minister David Cameron visited the temple in 2015. Read more here.

A Warwickshire Police spokesman said: “We believe that some of the men are in possession of bladed items and as such armed officers have been deployed to the scene.

“Officers are inside the temple to negotiate a peaceful resolution. We would like to reassure people that this is not being treated as a terrorist incident.

“There are also religious leaders in the temple working with officers to negotiate a peaceful resolution.

“There are police cordons in place around the temple and we would ask that people avoid the immediate area while the incident is resolved.”

Jatinder Singh Birdi, a former treasurer at the Warwickshire temple, told the BBC a marriage between a Sikh and non-Sikh was due to take place and that the protest was in connection with that.

He added that mixed marriages had been a contentious issue among the local Sikh community.

Watch: A short video of the scene outside the temple

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Supt David Gardner said a “significant number of bladed weapons” had been seized, but no injuries were reported.

He said: "We would like to reassure people that this was a contained incident that we believe was an escalation of a local dispute.

"A significant number of bladed weapons were seized from the scene.

"As a result of reports that the men were in possession of these weapons we deployed armed officers as a precaution. Nobody was injured in the incident.

"Over the coming days we will be working with local the Sikh community to address some of the ongoing issues that have culminated in today's events.

"We would like to thank local people for their patience while we dealt with this incident."