Man arrested after stand-off

Aman has been arrested after a quiet Fife village was locked down by armed police amid a major incident involving a vehicle blaze.

Kinglassie’s Mina Crescent was thrown into chaos early on Saturday morning when residents reported a pick-up truck was completely engulfed in flames.

A man is then believed to have barricaded himself within a property on the street.

The situation in the village, which is between Glenrothes and Lochgelly, meant a number of residents in the same block had to be evacuated.

Firefighters rushed to the scene at 7.10am to extinguish the blaze and were followed by a major police presence around 20 minutes later.

The incident saw a large part of the surrounding area cordoned off with people unable to travel through the village and residents told to park elsewhere.

At least 13 armed officers are believed to have been in attendance alongside police dog units.

As well as an evacuation, residents were also told to close their windows and stay indoors.

A 45-year-old was seen being escorted from the premises and arrested in the afternoon after a standoff for several hours.

Local resident Melanie Pike said waking up to a fire so close to her home was “really scary”.

“I was worried the fire was going to spread to other vehicles – I was really panicking,” she said.

“I woke up to strange noises and I thought I was dreaming at first.

“It was like a banging sound almost so I looked out my living room window to see this vehicle up in flames.

“The whole street was pure black with smoke. Luckily the firefighters arrived really quickly to put it out.

“The police came round to our door just to check we knew what was happening but our block was not evacuated.

“I watched the full thing. The officers were negotiating with him for a long time.”

A Police Scotland spokesman said: “A 45-year-old man has been arrested in connection with an incident on Mina Crescent, Kinglassie, which started around 7.35am this morning.

“There were no injuries reported and inquiries are ongoing.

“The occupants of properties which were

evacuated as a precaution have been allowed to return home.”

A spokesman for the Scottish Fire & Rescue

Service said one appliance attended just after 7am before another three were called just after 8am.

TERRIFIED: Residents were told to stay in their houses as smoke filled the sky.