THE peace of a small village near York was shattered as the biggest manhunt in the history of North Yorkshire came to a dramatic conclusion.

Residents in Shipton-by-Beningbrough were astonished as the spotlight fell on their normally sedate village and the sound of sirens and helicopters filled the air shortly after 3pm yesterday.

Staff at The Dawnay Arms had just served up dozens of Sunday lunches when they saw five police Land Rovers whizzing past and traffic began to queue through the centre of the village.

One pub worker told the Evening Press: "We heard quite a lot of noise and we thought it was a big crash, because the A19 is prone to accidents. One of the others went down to have a look and heard about Hobson.

"He could have been in here having a pint this week and I would not have known."

Katy Shead, of East Lane, said she had been worried Hobson was in the area after being awoken on Saturday night by her dog barking.

"He never barks and I said to my husband: 'I bet it's that guy'," she said. "We thought he would turn up here. You just get a funny feeling."

Mrs Shead said she had been extra careful with security all week as the manhunt intensified.

"It's frightening because my husband went out with one of the dogs on Saturday night and he walked up the footpath by the petrol station."

At The Church of The Holy Evangelist, worshippers arriving for the evening service found a police cordon just yards from the front door.

Parishioner Jack Hibbert said: "I live at the other end of the village and didn't know what was going on until somebody from Spain rang up to say it was on Sky News. It's worrying.

"He could have been here for a week."

Updated: 07:46 Monday, July 26, 2004