York's most senior police officer today issued a stark warning: "Ban all replica weapons before there is a tragedy."

Chief Superintendent Tim Madgwick said he would support a complete ban on the sale of replica firearms.

He said: "I find it bizarre in the extreme that replicas can be sold to anyone so easily. It puts enormous pressure on us because they are almost impossible to distinguish from the real thing.

"In the wrong hands or with someone who perhaps has mental health problems or has been drinking heavily, if they start waving around a firearm it has the potential for tragedy."

His words follow a dramatic five-hour armed siege off Windmill Lane, Heslington, yesterday, sparked when police received a report that a man had a gun in his home.

Mr Madgwick said he could not comment on the operation because police were considering whether to bring charges against University of York worker David Roustoby, who was arrested at the scene.

Forensics experts have confiscated the alleged weapon, a Walther PPK pistol, and were today continuing tests on it to find out if it was capable of firing.

In a series of phone calls to the Evening Press during the siege, Mr Roustoby, 29, claimed he had done nothing wrong and had bought the pistol completely legally.

Today his partner, who did not wish to be named, said she was concerned that police time was "wasted" on cases involving such weapons, which are freely and legally available.

She said: "Half of York's police force was occupied yesterday morning over a replica gun that I don't think should even be sold. It's crackers. They are completely unnecessary and they cause havoc," she added. "The police are in a no-win situation. It's a very difficult situation for them to handle, and it's a waste of police resources."

She said she had not known it was in the house until Mr Roustoby showed it to her 16-year-old son on Monday night. She added that her partner came from a background which gave him a very different view of replica weapons, which he saw as a form of security.

Updated: 09:49 Wednesday, November 03, 2004