POLICE have arrested a man who was to be evicted after he turned on the gas in his flat in south west London and threatened to blow it up.
Hundreds of residents were evacuated from Sudbury House, a 25-storey block of flats, and the nearby Southside Shopping Centre after police could smell gas leaking from the flat.
The siege started at 9.30 am when three Wandsworth Council workers came round to evict the man from his 16th storey flat.
He then attacked the locksmith and the bailiff with a weapon.
The men were rushed to hospital with head injuries, which were believed to be not life-threatening.
Police negotiated with the man, who barricaded himself inside the flat.
A Wandsworth Council spokesman said the man then turned on the gas and threatened to set fire to the flat.
A police spokesman confirmed officers could smell gas leaking and at 1pm stormed the flat.
The man was arrested on suspicion of gross bodily harm.
Sudbury House residents have been allowed to return home, except those living on the 16th floor.
A number of lanes on Wandsworth High Street were closed, causing traffic delays, but have since been reopened.
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