6:21pm UK, Thursday July 21, 2005

Armed police have arrested a man at gunpoint near the entrance to Downing Street.

The suspect, of Asian origin, was led away in handcuffs as a police officer trained his MP5 sub-machine gun on him.

180 police marksman downing st 21/7/05

Officer trains his gun on man

The man appeared to be naked underneath his jacket.

He was led away by armed police.

Inside Downing Street, Tony Blair had been holding a meeting with Australian Prime Minister John Howard.

Mr Blair had been due to hold talks with senior intelligence officers and police chiefs in the wake of the London bombings on July 7.

Instead, he called an urgent COBRA meeting to discuss the situation in the capital.

Afterwards, he held a joint press conference with Mr Howard.

The Prime Minister said: "I think what is important is that people do stay calm and react in the way that they are."

Metropolitan Police chief Sir Ian Blair later said the incident was unconnected with the attempted bombings.