BREAKING NEWS UPDATE: Man arrested after shooting in St Leonards

A spokesman for Hastings Police said: “A man has been arrested and is in custody in relation to a shooting incident in Bexhill Road St Leonards.

“We are asking people to stay away from the area as this is an active crime scene. More information will follow.”

A driver caught up in incident has spoken of the fear and confusion at the scene.

James Butler, who works for Sussex Newspapers, was driving east towards Hastings on the A259 when he was stopped by a police vehicle.

He said: “I was driving along to go and see my boyfriend Michael for dinner when I saw a car coming towards me flashing its lights at me.

“I wondered why they were doing it, I thought I didn’t have my lights on.

“Five seconds later, I saw why. I had to brake pretty hard because I realised that there was an unmarked police car in the road.

“People seemed to be a bit confused, they didn’t know how serious it was.

“Then one driver tried to drive past the police car. All of a sudden, police officers were shouting ‘get back, get back, your life is at risk, do not come past, turn around’.

“There were police officers with guns and torches shining the light into nearby houses.

“A couple of minutes later, a lady came over and asked what was going on. She was visibly taken aback by the situation, and seemed quite scared.

“The next thing she said to me was ‘I’m going inside, I’m not staying out here, it’s not safe’.”

More to follow.