The Courier & Advertiser (Perth and Perthshire Edition)
Six men held as armed police swoop on town
SIX MEN have been detained in a high-profile police operation in StAndrews.
Armed officers swooped on a property in the Wardlaw Gardens/Hepburn Gardens area of the university town at 4.30pm.
The Courier understands the men were detained in connection with robbery-related allegations.
It is expected they will be charged overnight and are expected to appear in court this morning.
Specialist police, including armed response officers, were deployed to the area as part of an intelligence-led operation.
Eye witnesses told of a police helicopter hovering over the residential streets, close to the university, and armed officers were seen searching nearby gardens.
The police activity was centred on the area of Wardlaw Gardens.
Eye witnesses reported seeing armed officers in plain clothes scaling walls and fences to the rear of a property.
A number of males were later seen being escorted away in handcuffs.
Despite the UK’s terror alert, The Courier understands this was not a counterterrorism operation.
The area, populated by a number of large houses and flats, is a mix of residential properties and student lets.
Residents wondered what was going on when they heard the police helicopter.
One resident in Hepburn Gardens said: “I’ve been hearing a helicopter and didn’t think much about it.
“It’s all rather shocking. This is such a quiet and respectable area but nothing would surprise me anymore.”
As darkness fell, Wardlaw Gardens remained the scene of intense police activity.
The junction of Wardlaw Gardens with Hepburn Gardens was blocked by a police car with a cordon in place. The other end of the road had also been sealed off.
At 6.45pm, as the rain began to fall, two vehicles — including a white van — were seen being loaded on to a recovery vehicle
It is understood that earlier in the day a separate and unrelated police operation led to the recovery of drugs and cash in St Andrews. No further information was available.