POLICE swooped on a quiet Selby street after a gun was fired.

They were alerted when the shot was heard in Volta Street at about 1.30am on Saturday.

Officers conducted a search of the area and later arrested a man. A weapon was found hidden near Selby Canal.

Officers remained at the canalside, off Brayton Lane, until late on Saturday morning. A police van was also parked outside a house in Baffam Gardens for at least an hour, but police would not comment on the reasons.

Julie Reid, the landlady at the Boy And Barrel pub, in Woodville Terrace, was at home in Volta Street when she heard the shot. Julie said: "We had just come back from the pub."

"My daughter and I were watching TV before going to bed."

She said: "It was weird, because fireworks had been going off, but I said to my husband 'that sounds like a gun' and I thought it would have been some idiot with a pellet gun."

Ms Reid said she thought the shot came from the southern end of Volta Street, towards Woodville Terrace.

She said nothing like this had ever happened before, adding: "There's very little trouble around about here. There is the odd bit, but not much."

Elsewhere, residents in both Volta Street and Baffam Gardens knew nothing about the incident, or were remaining tight-lipped.

Staff at the local shops and Post Office were equally unaware of what had happened.

The occupier at the house in Baffam Gardens, where the police van had earlier been parked, refused to comment.

In a formal police statement, Sergeant Dave Hopper said: "At approximately 1.30 on Saturday morning, police received a report of a shot being fired in the Volta Street area of Selby.

"Police attended and following a search of the area, a male was arrested. Nobody was injured in the incident."

Detective Sergeant Maria Taylor later added: "A man has now been charged with affray and possession of an imitation firearm, and a gun has been recovered from a different scene."

DS Taylor said only one shot was fired, and asked any witnesses to contact North Yorkshire Police on 0845 6060247.

The accused man will appear before Selby Magistrates Court on Thursday, November 10.

Updated: 09:30 Monday, October 31, 2005