Two children were arrested after a bus was stormed by armed police in the city centre on Sunday evening.

Armed officers stopped and boarded a Bluestar bus on Bernard Street in Southampton at around 6.30pm.

One eyewitness said the incident resembled a scene from a Hollywood movie.

Two children - aged 12 and 13 - were arrested on suspicion of possessing a knife in a public place, Hampshire Police has now confirmed to the Echo.

The force said that they were called after reports of a person with a large knife in International Way, who was part of a larger group which boarded a bus into the city centre.

Dog units and armed police were then seen stopping a number 17 Bluestar bus on Bernard Street in Southampton city centre – arresting two people – and recovering a knife.

David Bally, 62, had been making his way from Oxford Street to Queensway, when he saw police stopping the bus before making the arrests, where he likened the scene to something out of a Hollywood film.

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He told the Echo: “It’s not something you expect to see in everyday life.

“It’s one thing to see a police dog unit, it’s another thing to see armed police with automatic weapons pull over a bus in broad daylight, it’s usually something you see in films.

“I saw two dog units and a police officer in an unmarked car waiting just behind the bus before two marked police vans came down the road, positioned themselves in front of the bus, before everyone got out and made their way either onto or just outside the bus.

“There was someone sat on the top deck who seemed to get taken downstairs before being handcuffed, it was quite alarming.”

He added: “The police weren’t actually pointing the guns at anyone but to have that kind of presence there was unlike anything I’ve seen – lots of people were stood on the roadside taking pictures and eventually I think we thought we better get out of there.”

Hampshire Police said in an update on Monday afternoon that the 12-year-old was released from custody under investigation, while the 13-year-old remained in custody.

A spokesperson for Bluestar commented: “The police asked to stop the bus and were very swift in what they were doing."