RIOT police swooped at a high rise flat in Greenock to bring an end to an incident which lasted more than six hours. 

In dramatic scenes, a team of officers equipped with shields, head gear and a battering ram marched into Prospecthill Court just before 1.30pm.

Their arrival eventually brought an end to a disturbance that had begun elsewhere in Greenock at 9.30am.

They made their way up the stairs to a flat on the second landing and broke down the door.

Officers then forced their way inside to confront a man who had allegedly barricaded himself inside. 

Crowds of onlookers gathered in Ann Street to see the incident unfold as the area came to a standstill.

At the height of the alert there were no fewer than nine police cars and several vans at the scene, with some residents telling the Tele they were being blocked from going into their own properties.

One said: “I came home and was told to stay out of my house for my own safety. We all had to just wait in the street while police dealt with things.”

Police were alerted to reports of threatening behaviour at 9.30am.

As a tense stand-off continued all day, police finally decided to make their move at around 3.30pm in a bid to bring the siege to end.

One officer was seen collecting a fire extinguisher from the ground floor before going back up the stairwell.

Officers had surrounded the building, with one perched on scaffolding, looking up towards the flat.

The incident was brought to a halt at 3.45pm when one man was marched out before a second male, who was also detained.

Police Scotland said that they had been called to an incident at 9.30am following reports of threatening behaviour and confirmed that two men had been arrested.