Police fired several rounds of CS gas into a house in London today where a lone gunman has been surrounded for 15 days in the country's longest ever domestic siege.
A police spokesman said the action was designed to end the stand-off and was not a response to any move by the gunman, who took potshots at policemen earlier and has set part of the building on fire.
"Our officers fired CS gas rounds into a part of the house away from the fire, where it was believed the gunman might be sheltering," the spokesman said.
The standoff began on December 26 after 32-year-old Eli Hall barricaded himself and a hostage inside the flat in the suburb of Hackney after police tried to remove a car outside for forensic examination.
The hostage escaped after 11 days but Hall remains inside -- burning furniture to stay warm as London is gripped by an icy spell of weather and its heaviest snowfall for 10 years.
He fired three shots at police on Thursday morning and showed no signs of surrendering.
Police responded by firing baton rounds through the windows of the flat and pumping in gallons of water in an unsuccessful bid to put out the flames.
More than 40 people in houses near the Hackney siege have been trapped for the duration while others have been prevented from returning home.