AN ARMED police response was launched to a man who was threatening to cut his own throat near Bournemouth Pier.

At least six officers, two armed, were sent to the arches next to the Harry Ramsden restaurant, at around 8.40pm on Wednesday, where the man was armed with a knife.

A crowd of some 50 people gathered as police taped off a 20m section of the prom to deal with the incident. The man was described as being in his 50s and wearing a yellow jacket and grey flat cap.

Holidaymaker Ben Endley, 25, said: “He was shouting and he had a knife held to his throat.

“He was shouting, ‘Don't come any closer’. The officers were negotiating, trying to talk him down, but every time he threatened to kill himself.”

An ambulance was waiting nearby, he said, along with an armed response vehicle and two police vans.

Mr Endley, who was staying in the New Forest, added: “He was very, very agitated. There was a crowd gathering and the police just didn’t seem to be able to get through to him.”

Dorset Police said officers assisted by ambulance and firearms personnel attended “in the interest of public safety”. An officer added a 45-year-old of no fixed abode had been “taken to a place of safety”.