These images show armed police carrying out a dramatic operation in Liverpool city centre.
More than a dozen firearms officers, many wearing helmets and body armour, were involved as a warrant was executed near The Strand.
Footage showing a police marksman on top of the Mersey Tunnel ventilation shaft overlooking the busy road and armed officers patrolling the streets below has also emerged.
Parts of the operation resembled scenes repeated throughout last year, when armed officers would escort high-risk prisoners to Liverpool Crown Court. But this incident was not linked to the courts.
And Merseyside Police has confirmed it was not terror-related, though the operation was not overseen by the force.
This remarkable display was instead part of a pre-planned operation conducted in the city by the Metropolitan Police however, the ECHO understands.
Specialist units from the force flooded the area around Beetham Plaza, with armed officers spotted in the surrounding streets and on The Strand at around 3pm on Thursday.
Footage revealed police officers in offices and on a ledge of the tunnel ventilation tunnel on the opposite side of the busy road.
The units are also thought to have blocked part of Fenwick Street and were seen outside restaurants on the ground floor of Beetham Plaza, where there is public access to a balcony offering a view across The Strand and towards the Three Graces.
The Met told the ECHO the gun-wielding officers were in the city to execute a warrant but that no-one was arrested.
The address targeted was not confirmed, nor the nature of the investigation the operation was connected to.
