Visitors to Tavistock’s Dickensian Evening watched in astonishment as plain-clothes police officers carted boxes a firearms from a hotel in the centre of the town. Officers carried the weapons from Wetherspoons in West Street into a unmarked black car waiting outside the restaurant and hotel as passers-by wondered what was going on. One witness said: ‘There were quite a few people in the area and we didn’t know what was going on. ‘They stacked the weapons and their boxes in the boot of the car and some in a back seat. There were a lot of guns – I would say around 12.’ Police, however, made it clear that their officers had not been involved in a major firearms incident, but were instead helping out of a group of sportsmen who needed somewhere to store their guns, which must by law be held in a secure area.

An Exeter-based spokesman said: ‘We were contacted after a group had checked in at a hotel in Tavistock, but had nowhere suitable to store their guns overnight. The group were in the area to undertake a licensed and planned game shoot. The hotel were unable to store the guns securely, and they couldn’t be left in the vehicles insecure overnight. Officers attended and after ensuring all licensing was up to date and in order, aided (the group) by transporting said items to a local gun store for safe storage overnight, and for the group to collect the following morning.’