A woman is in hospital with gunshot wounds after being held hostage at her home in Kent.

Armed police arrived at the property in Priory Road, Dartford, where witnesses say a woman was being ‘held hostage’ yesterday afternoon.

A man and a woman suffered serious injuries consistent with gunshot wounds and were taken to a London hospital, Kent Police confirmed.

A trained negotiator arrived at 12.40pm to ‘engage with a man’ following reports of a ‘disturbance’.

Neighbours described how police cordoned off the road and ordered them to stay inside their homes, before officers broke through the front door.

After an hour-long stand-off, ‘pandemonium’ broke out and the sound of two gunshot rounds were heard.

The house remained cordoned off and forensic teams could be seen entering the property late last night.

One woman, who wished not to be named, described the scene as ‘chilling’.

She said: ‘I was in the house and my husband and two girls were out – they couldn’t get back home.

‘I went out and was told “get back – you must stay indoors”. I went to the garden where I could see more.‘

About an hour after police entered the property, she said she heard gunshots before a person was carried out on a stretcher.

‘It was pandemonium,’ she said. ‘I heard five gunshots – a pause and then another five.‘

A spokesperson for Kent Police said: ‘Kent Police was called to a report of a disturbance at a property in Priory Road, Dartford, at 12.40pm on Saturday May 6.

‘Officers, along with a trained police negotiator, attended and attempted to engage with a man inside the address.

‘Whilst they were at the scene, a man and a woman suffered serious injuries consistent with gunshot wounds and were taken to a London hospital where they remain in a serious condition.

‘Patrols remain in the area and enquiries are ongoing to determine the circumstances and how the injuries were sustained.’

The force has made a mandatory referral to the Independent Office for Police Conduct due to police being at the scene at the time of the injuries. No police weapons were discharged.

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