Firearms officers swooped in on McDonalds Wellington and made an arrest in the early hours of Sunday morning. 

Armed police with Avon and Somerset were called to McDonalds in Westpark to assist with an arrest, after the suspect was believed to have been seen with a firearm. 

A man in his 20s was arrested at the McDonalds between midnight and 3am on Sunday morning.

The man was arrested on suspicion of an earlier incident of criminal damage near Watchet. 

The suspect's vehicle was searched by police, but no weapon was discovered. He was released on bail, and police inquiries remain ongoing. 

In a statement confirming the arrest, a spokesperson for the police said: "A man was arrested in Wellington in the early hours of yesterday morning in connection with an earlier incident of criminal damage near Watchet.

“Armed officers assisted with the arrest due to concerns a firearm had been seen.

"A search of his vehicle was conducted but nothing was located.

“The man, aged in his 20s, was later released on police bail and enquiries continue.”

According to College of Policing guidelines, armed officers can be deployed when officers have 'reason to suppose' that a suspect is in possession of, or has access to, a firearm or another lethal weapon. 

Figures from the Home Office show armed police officers were deployed 511 times by Avon and Somerset Constabulary in the year to March, 2022, a slight fall on the previous year.

Dr Liam O'Shea, a senior research fellow at the Royal United Services Institute think tank, said that officers remain unlikely to actually fire their weapons.

“The rate of police officers discharging a firearm remains low, particularly when compared to countries such as the United States.”

Armed officers intentionally fired a weapon just four times nationally last year – and there has been just one year in the last decade where this number reached double figures.

Across the South West, there were 1,331 firearms operations in 2021-22, carried out by 459 weapons-trained officers.