Plymouth incident: Everything we know as police swarm residential street in coastal city

Members of the public were ordered to "stay away" from West Hoe, Plymouth, after multiple emergency service vehicles were pictured in attendance of an incident on Wednesday

Officers continue to investigate a "serious assault" in Plymouth this morning - having warned members of the public to "stay away" from a residential area.

Several emergency service vehicles - including "around 10 police cars" - swarmed a street in West Hoe, Plymouth late on Wednesday night, leading to panic among residents on social media.

One of the locals, an off-duty paramedic, expressed her sadness at the "awful" scenes, which unfolded quickly in the night. Since her social media post, Devon and Cornwall Police issued a full statement to offer clarity on the situation - and confirm a male suspect remains on the loose.

While details remain scant at this stage, the Mirror is able to list several key points in regards to the operation, which is believed to continue at pace throughout Thursday.

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What has Devon and Cornwall Police said already?

The callouts happened particularly late on Wednesday night. As such, Devon and Cornwall Police's force incident management initially spoke briefly on behalf of the force.

Speaking at around 11pm, they said: "We are dealing with a serious assault at the scene. Members of the public are being asked to stay away. Officers remain at the scene."

But Devon and Cornwall Police's communications team issued a full statement with more details in the early hours of Thursday. In it, it confirmed a male suspect is on the run and the victim - whose gender has not been disclosed - has been dashed to a hospital in Plymouth.

What happened in West Hoe?

We know a "serious assault" happened on Wednesday. Police officers attended and remained at the scene in West Hoe, Plymouth, for several hours.

A scene guard remains in place on West Hoe Road and the road has been closed. The exact nature of the "serious assault" is yet to be disclosed, however, as the force continues to investigate.

Police had warned people to "stay away" from the area while officers investigated. This was at around 11pm on Wednesday and, in the early hours of the morning, that message was reiterated.

Who was involved?

A paramedic, who was not working on Wednesday night, became aware of the "awful" scenes. She tweeted a message of support for her colleagues, a post in which she stated there were "victims" - rather than a sole casualty.

But Devon and Cornwall Police since said only one person was hurt. The nature and extent of their injuries are, though, unclear at this stage.

The tweet, which @ParamedicEm sent at around 11.45pm, read: "Awful what’s going on in Plymouth. Thoughts with the victims and my colleagues who are having to deal with it all." The mum ended the post with a broken heart emoji and an emoji of an ambulance. Authorities are yet to confirm anything about the victim, such as their gender and age.

Have there been any arrests?

No arrests have, as yet, been made as police continue to look for the male suspect. Devon and Cornwall Police are yet to offer a description of the suspect.

He is known to his victim, the force has said. Detective Chief Inspector Dave Pebworth added: "We have a large police presence in the area and enquiries are ongoing to locate and arrest the suspect.

"We believe this is an isolated incident and there is no immediate threat to the wider public. We would ask members of the public to please stay away from the West Hoe area of the city while we continue our investigation."