'My dad is a hero' - West Sussex man who reported alleged shotgun incident to police reveals all about his ordeal

Those were the words of Lucy Holly, from Chichester, whose dad, Peter Fogden, alerted the police to a suspicious man in the city on Friday (May 29).

Armed police descended on Chichester, and schools were put on lockdown, after a reported sighting of a man with a shotgun. See how the incident unfolded here

Great-grandfather of five, Mr Fogden, who reported the sighting to police, described the moment he was told to follow a suspect.

Speaking to the Observer, the 77-year-old said: "It was just a normal thing to do.

"I thought there was something wrong.

"There were two gentlemen in the [Litten Gardens] war memorial so I asked if they had a phone as I don't have a mobile. I said I needed to dial 999."

The police told Mr Fogden, who was on his bike, to follow the man.

"If it was 20 years ago, I would have tackled him," he said.

"It's not the normal thing you expect anywhere. I just happened to be in the wrong place at the wrong time, or maybe the right place at the right time."

Lucy said her dad was 'man of the hour' and the 'hero of Chichester'.

She added: "Many people would walk on past and not want to get involved or too busy looking down at their phones. Not my dad.

"Rather than ignore it or walk on, he followed him and, without a mobile phone, found help to ring the police. Not only that but he then followed the man and kept track of him."

Chichester High School, Portfield Primary School and St Richard's Catholic Primary were among the schools to be put into lockdown.

One parent, whose children go to Portfield, described the moment she found out about the incident.

She said: "The school was on lockdown. They locked all the doors and windows and shut all the blinds.

"There was one police car and two police officers standing outside and we couldn't get the kids for like 40 minutes."

Sussex Police confirmed officers detained a man in relation to the incident, late Friday afternoon.

A spokesperson said: "As the suspect was reported to be near two schools, we worked with them to take precautions to keep pupils and staff safe while we investigated the report. No threats were made and no one was harmed.

"We would like to thank the public for their patience and understanding while we responded to this fast moving incident."