A man has been arrested after a major police operation in which a woman was held hostage for five hours.
Emergency services were called to the Homestead Motel on Cherry Street in Ballina on the New South Wales North Coast at 12:00pm on Friday.
Officers from the Richmond Police District were called to the motel for a report of a welfare concern.
According to New South Wales Police, officers were told that a man in his 30s was inside one of the units holding a 29-year-old woman against her will.
Ambulance and fire crews were on standby while police responded to the incident for five hours.
On social media, citizens reported that the man was probably holding a person hostage in the motel.
“After a five-hour police operation, the man was arrested at 5pm,” New South Wales police said.
The woman escaped without injury.
A man has been arrested after a five-hour siege on the northern coast of New South Wales
Ballina Homestead Motel where the siege took place on Friday afternoon
A police tactical team was on site and the woman was freed unharmed after a tense confrontation
The man was arrested and taken to Ballina Police Station where he is assisting police with their investigation.
The investigation into the incident is still ongoing.