Raoul Moat and police in confrontation as major operation gets under way

Northumbria police said they are negotiating with Raoul Moat tonight in a major operation in Rothbury. Residents were warned to stay inside amid reports the former nightclub bouncer, 37, is holding a sawn-off shotgun to his neck. "A man who fits the description of Raoul Thomas Moat has been located in the riverbank area in the vicinity of Rothbury," a police spokesman said. Marksmen were seen in the riverside area of the town as police activity centred on allotments near the town centre, where a man fitting Moat's description was spotted. An armed officer on the eastern approach to the village said: "I cannot explain the gravity of the situation. You're welcome to stay here but he [Moat] is on the other side of the primary school tennis courts and he is still armed." Another added: "We're keeping everybody out of his line of sight because if he gets a shot off we want no one getting hit." As more armed police surrounded the area, two NHS incident response unit ambulances with CCTV and dark windows arrived at the riverside. Support ambulances and regular ambulances are also at the scene. There are reports that Moat may have jumped out at a dog walker. One witness, who did not wish to be named, said the stand-off had started about 7pm: "We just heard loads of shouting which we think was coming from Moat, then we heard police shouting back telling him to get down and lie on the ground," he said. "He is lying face down with a gun pointing at his own head. About 10 armed police officers are stood surrounding him at a distance of about 30 yards with their weapons trained on him." Another witness, Peter Abiston, has been watching Moat for an hour. He said Moat, wearing dark-coloured clothing with a baseball cap and white trainers, had his back to the river, with police positioned about 20ft away from him. "He looks very calm," Mr Abiston told the BBC. "It looks as though the police clearly have it under control." A further witness, Chris Robertson, said he thought he had seen Moat holding a sawn-off shotgun to his neck: "We walked over and saw the guy standing on the other side of the river," he said. "He looked like he had a sawn-off shotgun pointing to his neck. As far as we know they're in the woods. Basically the whole place is under siege."