FOUR people from North-East were among six arrested by armed police after a member of the public reported seeing a man with a gun.

The alarm was raised in Carlisle, Cumbria, at 4.15am on Saturday morning by the member of the public who stopped police officers to report the sighting.

The man was followed from a nearby bar into the Ibis hotel, sparking a huge police operation with armed officers and dogs.

A spokesman for Cumbria Police said the area had been cordoned off and searched, and five men and a woman were arrested.

It is not known whether a weapon was recovered from the hotel in Botchergate, however, police thanked members of the public for their help in resolving the incident “quickly and securely.”

Four are from the Middlesbrough area, and two are from Carlisle.