ARMED police brought York railway station to a standstill for almost three hours as the hunt for Britain's most wanted man moved to the city.

Thousands of passengers were stranded in freezing weather and packed trains were halted on the tracks last night, as officers from North Yorkshire Police and British Transport Police searched for Nathan Coleman, the American doorman wanted in connection with the murder of West Yorkshire PC Ian Broadhurst.

The search brought widespread chaos to the busy East Coast Main Line, wrecking the travel plans of people trying to make their way to New Year celebrations around the country and beyond.

Nobody was caught, but police were said to have been 80 per cent sure that the sighting was a good one.

The alarm was raised by a flower seller, who saw a man in the station who resembled the pictures of Nathan Coleman being circulated in newspapers.

His call at 5.45pm led to the station being sealed off by 6.30pm, leaving hundreds of passengers stranded inside and outside the concourse.

Trains were halted as they approached York, and only through trains were allowed to pass. The station did not reopen to the public until 9.15pm.

Armed police were seen arriving in police vans and sniffer dogs were also brought in.

Confused crowds grew agitated outside the concourse as embattled GNER station workers struggled to hold them back at the entrance.

At 9pm, replacement bus services were organised to ferry some of the stranded travellers to Doncaster station.

But many passengers waited at York for the station to reopen.

Some in the crowd were unhappy at the lack of information about what was going on.

Kirsteen Tod, from Scarborough, whose journey was delayed for more than two and a half hours, said: "It's bedlam. Nobody has given us any information.

"I understand they've got to take this seriously. I used to work at Teesside Airport, but you have to keep the customers informed."

Rumours were circulating among passengers and station workers that Coleman might be on a train heading for York. A taxi driver told the Press he had heard an ambush was being planned for Coleman on his arrival at the station. Phil Thornton, a worker at CPP in York, said he had arrived at the station to catch a train at 7pm. "I saw four armed police and sniffer dogs. The officers were wearing bullet-proof vests and carrying machine guns. They were on the platform and when a Royal Mail train came through they trained their guns on it." Tourists Caryn Reder and Ling Zhang were stranded on their way to Cambridge as the siege of the station unfolded. They said: "It's been a beautiful day until now. You don't expect things like this to happen. We're really worried we won't get home tonight. We're discussing going to the youth hostel."German tourists Padma and Peter were heading to Manchester when they were caught up in the drama. Padma said: "York is such a sleepy, quiet town. It doesn't seem real. If there's someone like that and he's got a gun, you just think: 'Oh God'. "It's really scary." Clare Stead, of Heworth, said she understood police had to react as they had. "At the end of the day they were doing their job," she said. "It is more important to catch this man that for us to get a train to Edinburgh."

North Yorkshire Police spokesman Tony Lidgate said they would not know if Coleman had ever been in York Station until he was finally apprehended. He said the male flower seller had given them a good description of the suspect. "It was a call we had to take very seriously and as you can see we did. Officers have combed this railway station. We may well find out the truth when this man is caught."

For GNER, Jonathan Metcalfe said about 12 GNER services and many trains run by other operators had been unavoidably affected."

Given the nature and seriousness (of the sighting), there was no alternative but to have a comprehensive search of the station and enough personnel to do that, which is why it has taken so long," he said.

Updated: 10:07 Wednesday, December 31, 2003