Bellingen under seige | Coffs Coast Crime | Robberies, Assaults and Convictions in Coffs Coast

ROADS were closed and shops were evacuated during a three hour stand-off between police and a man with a gun in Bellingen yesterday.

Just before 10.30am, police received worrying calls about a man armed with a firearm out on the course at the Bellingen Golf Club.

It is believed staff in the club were not aware of the man on the course at the time.

“Police rang our staff member and informed them of what was happening, and so we quickly made sure all patrons had left, followed our locked up procedure and left the premises,” Bellingen Golf Club secretary/manager Gillian

Anderson told The Coffs Coast Advocate yesterday.

She said the police then used the club as a headquarters.

“They monitored the situation from there, they were very professional and handled it extremely well,” Mrs Anderson said.

Roads surrounding the Bellingen Golf Club were closed as the police set up a perimeter and brought in Mid North Coast negotiators as well as State Protection Support.

Negotiations were successful and the 21-year-old man, believed to be a Bellingen local, surrendered himself to police just before 1.30pm.

No one was injured in the incident. “We will be monitoring our staff and giving them any support they may need,” Mrs Anderson said.