Shots fired after hostage escapes from 'sleeping gunman' in one of Britain's longest armed sieges

A terrified hostage held in a first-floor flat escaped unharmed after 10 days of captivity in one of Britain's longest armed sieges.

The man was noticed outside the back of the building in Hackney, east London, yesterday afternoon by armed officers who called him down and led him to safety.

A shot was heard soon afterwards from inside the flat where Eli Hall, 32, has been surrounded by about 50 armed officers since he exchanged fire with police on Boxing Day.

Commander Bob Quick said he believed Mr Hall was unharmed and added that the gunman had later tried to regain contact with negotiators. Police said they were determined to end the siege peacefully and the negotiating team was trying to get back in touch with him last night.

A white van with blacked-out windows and a police escort was believed to have taken the hostage to a London police station where he would receive any necessary medical treatment.

The flat is thought to have been freezing cold since Wednesday, when police cut electricity supplies, and only three meals have been taken into the flat during the siege.

The siege began when officers tried to remove a Toyota Celica car, which was believed to have been involved in a shooting in central London. It has now lasted as long as the stand-off at the Libyan embassy in London in 1984 after PC Yvonne Fletcher was shot dead while on duty at a demonstration.

As the stand-off continued, 150 neighbours who were in the line of fire were moved from their homes to hotels, local authority accommodation and boarding houses in the area. Another 40 declined to leave and have been forced to remain in their homes.

Officers said they held two and a half hours of "tense and difficult" negotiations before the escape yesterday with Mr Hall, who had barricaded himself inside the flat.

The hostage's appearance outside the flat had been unexpected and there was speculation that he had escaped while the gunman was asleep.

Mr Quick said: "A man who we believe to have been held against his will for more than 10 days ... was able to leave the immediate confines of the flat and was escorted to safety by armed police officers."

People living in the area were still being prevented from returning to their homes last night. A plan to allow some neighbours back home by clambering over a railway embankment and removing fencing was abandoned after yesterday's developments.

Diane Abbott, the Labour MP for Hackney North and Stoke Newington, said: "I understand why the residents are angry and frustrated. The only other choice is for the police to storm in there and riddle the man with bullets. I don't think that would have been desirable."