AN armed stand off continued on a Hampshire housing estate today where a woman was being held hostage in a flat.

As many as 32 police officers, some armed, surrounded a block of flats, after the 35-year-old woman was dragged into the home yesterday.

The incident happened at a first floor flat in Frosthole Close, Fareham, at about 4.40pm where neighbours said the woman, believed to be Vanessa Davies, lives.

Police were at the scene within minutes after two separate reports from neighbours that a 33-year-old man had dragged the woman into the house.

They later saw him brandishing a knife and pointing a weapon under a blanket but could not confirm that three loud bangs heard by eye witnesses were gunshots.

Two police negotiators, part of a 32-strong team of officers, held intermittent talks with the man, through a window from 6.30pm onwards in an attempt to coax him out while members of the woman's family looked on from beyond the police cordon.

Distraught relatives and the distressed woman who witnessed the hostage-taking were being comforted by a family liaison officer and vicar at the scene.

Hampshire police spokeswoman Susan Rolling said: "A trained negotiator is attempting to secure the woman's release. We don't know how long it will be going on for, but we're doing our best to get her out of there."

More than 70 locals watched police at work on Operation Midgeholme, which was being led by Chief Supt Matthew Greening who heads the community safety team at Hampshire police headquarters at Netley.

As darkness fell, a coach arrived to take any stranded residents to Ferneham Hall although most people who were unable to return to their homes in the immediate vicinity of the hostage siege stayed with family and friends.

A number of other householders were believed to be staying with friends or relatives while neighbours in their homes at the time of the siege were told to stay indoors and keep away from windows.

The tactical firearm team, an ambulance, a specialist incident support unit and more than a dozen police vehicles were all called to the scene during the evening.

Police officers in bullet-proof vests surrounded the flat.

The road, built 27 years ago, is a small, peaceful cul-de-sac mostly containing council-owned flats and maisonettes.

Eyewitness Simon Parkins, 19, a cable networker, of Middle Mead, Fareham, said: "Me and my friends had driven to Highlands Road and started playing football when we heard what sounded like two or three gunshots. I then saw a police van and police cars go into Frosthole Crescent really soon afterwards.

His friend, 19-year-old Steve Clarke, of nearby Catisfield Road, said he saw the police armed response unit outside the property before the loud bangs.

He added: "I heard three gunshots. A load of police cars seemed to arrive in unison."

Receptionist Donna Wadey, 38, of Kennedy Avenue, said: "I just came into my road and someone told me that a man had taken a woman hostage. The police were already here and there were lots of officers wearing protective gear."

Melanie Maddocks, 43, an estate agent negotiator, also of Kennedy Avenue, added: "It's always very quiet around here. I got home at about 5pm and when I saw the police here I thought there must have been some sort of a riot."

Police cordoned off Frosthole Close and part of Frosthole Crescent at the junction with Highlands Road.

This morning blue and white police tape remained tied to trees, lampposts and walls marking off the no-go area as police officers, patrol cars and vans and paramedics came and went during the night.

Armed police with their distinctive navy blue bullet-proof vests and protective helmets joined other officers for regular briefings in their mobile office van.

Police officers also taped down telephone lines to the pavement to connect different units.

Along the cordoned-off section of Frosthole Crescent, leading to the usually peaceful cul-de-sac, the carefully-kept semi-detached homes and red-brick and cream coloured blocks of flats and maisonettes mark this out as a respectable family neighbourhood.

Its family credentials are clear from a playgroup that meets in a hall in the street.

Throughout the long slow hours of the night, relatives looked on helplessly.

Their night-time vigil was made more bearable by members of Hampshire Fire and Rescue Service emergency catering unit serving up hot drinks.

A kind neighbour opened the door of her home in the cordoned off area providing warm shelter for relatives.