Armed police storm office block... but 'gunman' turns out to be delivery driver with handheld PC

Armed police stormed a business park after reports of a gunman at large - only to find the scare was sparked by a delivery driver's handheld PC.

Witnesses said officers wielding sub machine guns forced their way into an office in New Malden during the scare.

Photographer Mathew Frost reported seeing 18 armed police officers descend on King's Park Business Centre in New Malden around 6pm yesterday.

Police later confirmed the call was the result of an "honest mistake".

Mr Frost told the Standard: “Initially three armed police with sub machine guns arrived and quickly scaled a 10ft high security gate.

“They then smashed their way into the office building.

“They were quickly followed by around another 15 armed police.

“There had been reports of a person dressed in army camouflage entering the office building with a gun.”

Local businesses were reportedly evacuated while the situation unfolded and worried residents speculated as to what was happening.

But officers eventually discovered the man was not armed and was in fact a delivery driver with a handheld PC known as Personal Digital Assistant.

Kingston Police later tweeted: “We deployed armed officers last night to reports of a man with a gun. Turned out to be a delivery driver with a PDA!”

A Met Police spokeswoman confirmed the incident was an “honest mistake”.

She said: “A member of the public reported a man was in possession of a firearm. Officers, including firearms officers attended the scene.

Honest mistake: Police found a delivery driver with his PDA 
Shutterstock

“Enquiries, including CCTV, revealed the man was not in possession of any weapon.

“No offences were disclosed and the informant was advised.”

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