ARMED police raided a house in a North-East town yesterday following reports of an aggravated burglary.

An armed response unit from Durham Police along with a dog squad and regular officers surrounded a property in High Northgate, Darlington, from about 2pm yesterday.


Mobile phone footage of the incident.


At about 5.40pm, a door leading to two flats was knocked in and a police dog was let into the property to search it. Armed officers followed the dog. However, police were unable to locate the suspected burglar or victim.

A spokeswoman for Darlington Police said last night: “We were called to an aggravated burglary and there was an unconfirmed report that someone had a knife in their possession.

“When police arrived at the scene, neither the alleged victim nor perpetrator were present.”

Lorraine Todd, 48, who lives next door to the house, said: “It has been going on all day.

“I’m not too worried – I’ve been in this house for 18 years and I’ve seen all sorts going on next door. This is nothing new.

“I thought the property was empty, but you sometimes see people coming in and out.”

Anyone with information about yesterday’s events can contact police in Darlington on 0345-60-60-365 or call the charity Crimestoppers anonymously on 0800-555-111.

■ Darlington police said last night a suspect had been arrested and was due to be interviewed this morning. Inspector Colin Dobson confirmed the alleged victim had been assaulted but had not suffered any knife wounds.