ARMED police on Tuesday ended an 18-hour siege at a house where a Bury policeman had been shot and found a man dead inside.

Pc David Lomas, aged 34, was shot in the chest when he made a routine visit to the council house in Rawtenstall on Monday afternoon. He was blasted with a shotgun on the doorstep.

As Pc Lomas was airlifted to hospital, armed police officers and trained negotiators were called to the house in an attempt to persuade the man inside to give himself up.

Officers sealed off the house and surrounding area throughout the night.

Stephen Hensby, described as a loner in his 50s, was found dead when armed police brought the siege to an end after storming the house in Hardman Avenue shortly after 8am.

Throughout the night, Mr Hensby fired several more shots and hurled petrol bombs into his garden.

Neighbours were told to stay in their houses as negotiators spent the night trying to persuade the man to give himself up.

Some residents were unable to reach their homes and were put up in the hall of the local primary school.

The incident began after Pc Lomas went to the house shortly after 1.30pm on Monday with another uniformed colleague to speak to Mr Hensby about a complaint of anti-social behaviour.

Chief Supt Jerry Graham said: "Following an extensive overnight operation, firearms officers entered the house on Hardman Avenue this morning where they found a deceased male in an upstairs bedroom.

"A deceased dog was also found in the bedroom."

No other people were present in the house and no more shots were fired.

Chief Supt Graham said: "This was a difficult operation where the safety of the public and our officers was paramount."

Samantha Kay, who lives opposite the siege house, said the scene was one of mayhem.

"I heard lots of activity outside and two police vans pulled up," she said. "A policeman was carried out by two others with blood dripping all over him. There were policemen with shields and guns aiming at the house, helicopters everywhere and dogs outside.

"I went to tell them there was a school down the road that was due to finish any time and they shouted at me to get in the house."

Other witnesses said Pc Lomas lay injured in the street for several minutes before an armed response unit was able to reach him.

He was airlifted to the Royal Preston Hospital for treatment to a chest wound which is not considered to be life-threatening. His family were at his bedside throughout the night.

Residents described Mr Hensby as a man aged in his mid-50s who had lived alone in the house since the death of his mother a few years ago.

He was a motorbiking enthusiast who kept a rottweiler and had erected barbed wire around part of his garden fence to keep intruders out.

Pc Lomas, who is single, is a local community beat manager and joined the Lancashire force in August 2001.

The following April, he finished his training and became a bobby in the Rossendale valley before becoming community beat manager for Haslingden.

A police spokesman said: "Officers do face difficult and often dangerous situations as part of their duty. Fortunately incidents of this nature are a rare occurrence in Lancashire."

Chief Supt Jerry Graham said that although Pc Lomas has had a relatively short service with Lancashire police, he was very highly regarded and very well respected by his fellow officers.

He added: "PC Lomas is a professional officer who is young in service and has had many letters of gratitude from members of the public for his work in the local community."

He also said the two officers had gone to the house on a "routine inquiry" and the violent response could not have been anticipated.