LOOKING back to the week of August 14 to August 20, five years ago...

ARMED officers were called to three addresses in Darlington within the space of 24 hours, in August 2018.

The first incident happened on the night of Friday, August 17, 2018 when a three-hour stand-off at an address in Haughton led to the arrest of one man.

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Early on the morning of Saturday, August 18, 2018, another team of armed officers were deployed to a house in Station Road, in the North Road area of the town.

And the third incident saw several armed officers seal off two roads in the Denes area for more than an hour while scores of people lined the streets to watch the unfolding drama.

Durham Police did not released details on any of the three armed incidents since the force alerted people to the incident in Stockton Road after some residents had to be evacuated from their homes.

Later in the week, armed police were called to the scene of a violent incident in Darlington which led to residents being evacuated from their homes.

The drama started at about 7.50pm, on Friday, August 17, 2018, when two men were seen arguing in the street in the Stockton Road area of the town.

Witnesses claimed the argument turned violent, before a woman was hurt and taken to hospital. Her injuries are not believed to be serious.

A witness said a man tried to steal her daughter’s mobile phone, but she managed to fight him off.

“He grabbed my daughter but I managed to knock him off his bike and get her away from him,” she said.

The emergency services were called as he retreated inside a house, amid fears over the gas supply to the property.

People living in the area were evacuated and took shelter in the Highland Laddie pub.

One resident said: “Armed police arrived pretty quickly and they soon had the road closed off.”

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Finally, a cash-strapped council was criticised after it emerged officers agreed to buy ten new high-tech bins for £60,000, in August 2018.

The solar-powered bins were installed around Darlington town centre, with one in the Cockerton area.

They could hold up to eight times more rubbish than the bins that were previously used, with litter being compacted down after being deposited.

Opposition councillors expressed concern about the cost of the bins, with one accusing Darlington Borough Council of spending “an obscene amount of money” in a gesture “many would struggle to comprehend”.

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But Councillor Nick Wallis defended the cost, saying the bins were installed as part of a wider strategy to maintain and improve the town centre.

He said: “This was one of the key priorities people told us was most important to them.”

Similar bins were installed in Hartlepool in 2017.