Police today arrested a man after two children were held hostage for five hours at a Bradford house.

Officers in riot gear stormed the house at 8.30am and a 28-year-old man was led away by four policemen.

During the siege, a man had held the children, a girl aged two and a boy of five, out of an upstairs window.

Police were called to a semi-detached house at Barnby Avenue, in the Lower Grange area, at 3.30am after a woman suffering from stab wounds fled the house and ran to a neighbour who dialled 999.

The cul-de-sac of 30 houses was sealed off and a trained police negotiator was brought in. One eye witness said they were told to stay in the house but her partner, who was leaving for work, managed to reverse his vehicle slowly out of the street.

She had been told a man was seen hanging out of a window and police were talking to him. The neighbour added that a family of four lived at the house.

Another resident, who asked not to be named, said: "I have no idea what set it all off. We heard that a man would not let the children out of the house. Everyone in the street stayed inside. I couldn't see what was happening.

Amanda Robertson, 24, of nearby Herschel Road, said: "My husband was going to work and he came running back up the stairs to say there were police everywhere. There were loads of officers and paramedics and all we have heard is that someone was being held hostage."

Station officer Dave Sidebottom, of Bradford fire station, said that two fire engines were called to the scene at 5.30am as a precautionary measure.

The arrested man was taken to Toller Lane police station for questioning..

The woman, 26, was taken to Bradford Royal Infirmary with stab wounds to her shoulder and hand, but her injuries were described as not life-threatening. Her condition was said to be "stable."

A police spokesman said: "A 28-year-old man is being questioned. The two children are safe and well and are being cared for by relatives."

The spokesman added: "Police were called to a house in the Lower Grange area of Bradford at 3.32am following reports of a stabbing.

"In the house was a man believed to be with two children. The man refused to leave the premises and the road was cordoned off."

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