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A man was taken to hospital after dousing himself in petrol and threatening to set himself on fire in a Job Centre.

Police and paramedics were called to Ashton Job Centre, in Ashton-under-Lyne, Greater Manchester, at around 4.30pm on Wednesday afternoon.

The man was taken to nearby Tameside General Hospital but is not believed to have been injured in the incident.

The Manchester Evening News reports rumours had circulated on social media that the man also had a gun with him, but the Department for Work and Pensions, who run Job Centres, said this was not the case.

The Job Centre closed for the afternoon following the incident and reopened the next morning.

In a statement, a spokeswoman for the DWP said: “We are aware of an incident at the Ashton-under-Lyne Jobcentre on Wednesday, September 9.

“It is now a police matter.”

A spokeswoman for the North West Ambulance Service said: “An ambulance attended and a person was taken to Tameside General Hospital.”

Greater Manchester Police could not be reached for comment.