This article is more than 1 year old

This article is more than 1 year old

A man has been arrested on suspicion of criminal damage and intent to endanger life after allegedly threatening to blow up a block of flats.

The police were called to a seventh-floor flat in Barking, east London, at about 8.40pm on Tuesday to reports a man had barricaded himself inside and threatened to burn the block down.

Police negotiators were sent to the scene at Earlsdown House in Wheelers Cross and talked to the man.

Officers forced their way into the flat and detained him at 1.08am.

He was taken to a local hospital as a precaution in relation to a pre-existing medical condition.

All residents had been evacuated from the building and gathered at a local community centre in Barking, supported by police and council representatives.