A police helicopter circled low over Surbiton last night as residents looked on.

Surrey Police said the police presence in Cottage Grove was connected to a search for a missing person.

Surrey Comet:

Cottage Grove. Photo courtesy of @IBwan on Twitter. 

But a witness said they saw a person put into a police van in Cottage Grove at about 10.30pm after it pulled up with a number of cars.

They said: "They walked to the back of the van and never reappeared. He wasn't in uniform. He could have been a plain-clothes policeman.

"It seems very strange, the whole thing."

The Metropolitan Police said this morning they had no record of the incident.

A separate call to Surrey Police from Effingham Road, shortly before 11pm, was unconnected to the Cottage Grove incident, a spokeswoman said.

A South East Coast Ambulance spokesman said paramedics were called to reports of a man in his 60s having suffered a fall.

Police officers attended first and the man did not need treatment, he added.

Did you see what happened? Contact the newsdesk by calling 020 8744 4273 or emailing newsdesk@surreycomet.co.uk.