ARMED police tasered a man who went on a rampage in a block of flats armed with a samurai sword.

The apartments in Belgrave Road, Leigh, were evacuated in the early hours of this morning before officers used a smoke bomb to disorientate the knifeman.

The incident, which left residents terrified for their safety, is believed to have been sparked by a row between neighbours about who slashed the tyres on a car.

One eyewitness, who did not want to be named, said: “It was absolutely terrifying, really bad. I don’t want to live here anymore.

“He was shouting ‘bring it on, bring it on’ and swearing. He booted my door and others, and he got into one flat and wouldn’t leave.

“The police shouted through my letter box to get out and we all had to wait in a van until it was over.

“They had him in the back of an ambulance. There must have been five or six police cars and they were all armed and had helmets on and everything.”

The knifeman is believed to live in one of the nine apartments in the block, and had broken into a neighbour’s home at about 12.30am.

Officers spent 90 minutes trying to negotiate with him before storming into the flat.

Another resident, who was too scared to be identified, said: “It sounded like someone was trying to kick the front door down.

“I called 999 and I was actually lying in bed holding a knife because I didn’t know what was going to happen.

“My neighbour is in his seventies and you don’t need something like that at that age.”

One man who lives on the opposite side of the normally peaceful street said he heard female voices shouting just after midnight.

He said: “There were some girls screaming but I thought they were just excited girls.

“There has hardly been any trouble here for years. Armed police is a new one.”

An Essex Police spokesman said the man was arrested on suspicion of making threats to kill.

He remained in Southend Hospital on Wednesday afternoon recovering from the effects of the taser.

The spokesman said: “Police went to a block of flats in Belgrave Road shortly before 12.30am following reports that a man had made threats towards the occupants.

“Officers arrived to find the suspect was within an address and was making further threats.

“Police spoke to the man for more than hour before gaining entry to the flat.

"A 53-year-old man was subsequently tasered before being arrested on suspicion of making threats to kill.

“He was then taken to hospital for treatment where he currently remains. A number of knives and a suspected samurai sword were seized.

"Police enquiries are continuing."