A LARGE police presence in a Bradford community has shaken residents who have spoken of the unsettling impact of seeing so many emergency vehicles in a normally-quiet residential area.
Police were swooped on an address on Shirley Road, off St Margaret's Road in Great Horton on Sunday night, executing a warrant and making an arrest.
A spokesperson from West Yorkshire Police said: " Police executed a warrant and arrested a man on suspicion of handling stolen goods. The man aged 27 years old remains in police custody at this time.
"Searches are being carried out at a business on Shirley Road whilst enquiries are ongoing by Bradford CID."
Residents reported initially seeing one police vehicle from around 10pm on Sunday before a huge police response followed closer to midnight, which included at least eight police cars, assisted by a helicopter.
One local resident told the T&A: "It's like a movie scene.
"The police were here last night, around 11pm I think.
"You could hear the choppers out. It made me wonder what is happening?"
Another resident said: "I came home from prayers last night and there were eight or nine police vehicles here. It looked like an armed response.
"They had a drone out and a helicopter too.
"The police haven't told us what's happening. We're just guessing."
"It gets busy at prayer times, but it's usually quiet around here."
Another resident added: "With the number of police officers, it must have been something big."
The police continued into Monday morning and afternoon, with multiple police vehicles, a Hazmat unit and two incident response unit ambulances at the scene.
There were three cordons up, one on Shirley Road and two closing off alley access to the side and back of the site from Roslyn Place.
The police were also carrying out their investigation at the back of the site, which appeared to be a small scrapyard with a number of junk vehicles and a small caravan which was being investigated by an officer in a protective white suit.
When asked for further updates throughout the day, the police spokesperson added that "police enquiries are ongoing". The large police response on Sunday night followed by a continued large response of emergency vehicles at the scene on Monday caused uneasiness in a tight-knit community of local residents who shared their concerns.
One resident said: "I appreciate they're investigating but they've not reassured any of the residents or told us 'everything is going to be all right'.
"We're worried about our families.
"The fact that there were eight or nine police vehicles on the road outside my house last night just made us wonder what's going on here?"
"It's absolute madness," said another resident.
"The local community is shaken up because it's Ramadan now.
"This has just made it crazy around the clock."
"There was quite a lot of activity last night," said another resident. "I heard a lot of noise. I came out and saw police.
"It's unusual to see so many police. This is quite a peaceful area."
The police scene and cordon closed at least two local businesses.
Their owners spoke about the disruption.
Yasir Mahmood, of One Stop Auto Repair, says police have been in the area since last night and have not informed him why.
He said: "They have not told us anything.
"The whole complex has been shut.
"It has caused disruption. We have had to cancel all of our bookings today."
Another man who runs a samosa production shop next door also had to close due to the investigation.
Umar Shabir, owner of Asim Samosas, said: "I can't trade today. It's peak time. I got orders I need to get out but I had to close and send staff back home.
"I'm just waiting to see what the outcome is. Better to be safe than sorry," he added.
One resident was surprised to wake up to a busy police scene on Monday morning.
They resident said: "When I came back from evening prayers last night, everything was fine.
"When I woke up today, there were three or four police cars and a cordon present.
"I am not sure what has happened."
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