Police disarmed a man wielding a Samurai sword with 50,000 volts from an electronic stun gun in a Surbiton street at the weekend.

It is the first time a gun of this type known as a taser has been used in the royal borough.

Police went to Langley Avenue, Surbiton, at 4.40pm on Saturday after receiving reports that a man in his 20s was running around shouting and waving a Samurai sword.

The officers tried to negotiate with the man but he climbed onto the roof of a house and started bombarding them with bricks and tiles. They called for assistance and were joined by officers from the Metropolitan Police's firearms unit SO19.

The man came down from the roof and officers continued to talk to him, but the SO19 officers decided to use the stun gun to make him drop the Samurai sword and for them to be able to detain him.

The tasar blast temporarily paralysed the man. He was arrested and taken to a south London hospital. He had sustained minor injuries and was detained under the Mental Health Act.

The incident is being investigated by the Independent Police Complaints Commission and the Directorate of Professional Standards.

Neighbours in Langley Avenue were advised by police to stay indoors as the drama unfolded.

A tasar releases a high voltage electric current which temporarily paralyses a victim by interfering with their neuromuscular system.

The guns are being trialed by five English police forces including the Met.