A candle-lit vigil in Birmingham in memory of those killed in the Manchester Arena bomb attack was cut short after a man believed to be armed was detained nearby.

The man shouted out as he was handcuffed and led away by officers with West Midlands Police, just a short distance from where 1,000 people had gathered in the city's main Victoria Square.

As he was taken away in a riot van in Edmund Street, which runs behind Birmingham's council house, a police sergeant could be seen carrying away what appeared to be a bat and a hatchet.

Speakers who had been paying tribute to the Manchester victims were interrupted by the man's loud protests, from down a side street.

Police, including armed response officers, then cleared the square a short time later.

The force's chief constable David Thompson - who had been attending the vigil in an official capacity - witnessed some of the incident.

He confirmed the evacuation of the square, in front of the council house, had been a precaution.

The man, who was black and had a short-trimmed bread, was stopped just two hundred yards from the packed square at about 7pm, where mourners had earlier been lighting candles.

It took several officers to restrain the man, who was then dragged away along the street, before he was placed in the back of the police van with his head bowed.

The man was initially stopped at a police cordon at the corner of Chamberlain Square, near a side entrance to the local authority building.

Several civic dignitaries including West Midlands Metro Mayor Andy Street, and the police and crime commissioner David Jamieson, had been attending the vigil.

Also present were city politicians Jess Phillips, Jack Dromey and city council leader John Clancy.