Six detained near university in armed police raid on house

SIX men were detained last night after armed police raided a house close to one of St Andrews University’s main halls of residence.

The officers swooped on the property in the Wardlaw Gardens/Hepburn Gardens area of the town at 4.30pm while a police helicopter hovered overhead.

Specialist police, i ncluding armed response officers, were deployed to the area as part of an intelligence-led operation.

Eyewitnesses said a Police Scotland helicopter hovered over the residential streets, close to University Hall, and police were seen searching nearby gardens.

Onlookers reported seeing armed officers in plain clothes scaling walls and fences to the rear of a property. Several males were seen being escorted away in handcuffs.

The area, which has a number of large houses and flats, is populated by a mix of permanent residents and students.

A local resident said last night: ‘This is such a quiet and respectable area.’

A third-year student at the university, who asked not to be named, said: ‘It’s an extraordinary thing to happen here.’

Student website The Saint said police told them they had not seized drugs. It is understood the men were detained in connection with an allegation of conspiracy to rob.

A Police Scotland spokesman said six males had been detained, adding: ‘We can confirm that armed officers were involved in the operation.’