Cops swoop after gun is spotted in parked car

ARMED police searched a flat and removed a car for forensic testing after reports that a gun had been spotted.

• Police sealed off nearby streets as they searched a flat in Loganlea Avenue and removed a vehicle

Six armed response officers descended on Loganlea Avenue in Craigentinny after police were told that a firearm had been seen inside a Volkswagen.

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Officers with machine guns searched the surrounding area and cordoned off nearby streets while sniffer dogs were also deployed during the operation.

The Volkswagen was lifted on to a lorry and taken away for forensic examination while the armed unit moved on to search a second-floor flat in nearby Loganlea Place.

The force later confirmed that no-one had been arrested during the drama, which began at 10am yesterday, and no firearms had been recovered.

Police said they had been investigating a suspected firearms incident, but "inquiries were ongoing" and it would be "inappropriate to comment further at this time".

Rumours quickly began to spread among local residents that the searches were linked to the knifepoint robbery of a drug dealer or that a siege was under way.

The streets were sealed off while a search of the flat, which was unoccupied at the time, was carried out by officers.

A Craigentinny resident, who asked not to be named, said: "I was told a flat in Nisbet Court had been raided by people. That's who the police are looking for."

Another resident said: "Everyone thought someone had barricaded themselves in the flat with a gun or knives, and that is why the armed police were here. They are saying it was connected to the robbery in Nisbet Court.

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"There were armed police going through the gardens and police dogs. They must've been here for about three hours.

"Craigentinny is really bad for drugs and things like this at the moment."

Police said that no incidents at Nisbet Court on Tuesday had been reported to police.

A police spokesman said: "Lothian and Borders Police dealt with an incident relating to a suspected firearm in the east of Edinburgh.

"Inquiries are ongoing and it would be inappropriate to comment further at this time but anyone with information that can assist our investigation should contact police immediately."

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