CAROLYN CHURCHILL and BARCLAY MCBAIN

INVESTIGATION

IT is a picturesque village where most neighbours are close friends and children are allowed out on their own to play in the street.

The Renfrewshire community of Houston is popular with those who seek a village lifestyle within commuting distance of Glasgow. Home to around 6000 people, the affluent area boasts local shops, a small pub, church and schools.

Neuk Crescent, which contains a long sweep of semi-detached villas built in the 1970s, has attracted many young families venturing on to the property ladder.

However, when residents woke yesterday morning they discovered the quiet street in a quiet village had become the focus of a major police investigation and a story making headlines around the world.

At around 5.30am yesterday, number six Neuk Crescent was raided by armed police. Neighbouring residents were advised to remain indoors as the road was cordoned off with tape and an extensive search of the two-bedroom house got under way.

The house is thought to have been owned by a doctor, but was let out through an agency in nearby Paisley. Neighbours said that two Asian men had rented the property for the past two months, although several said that the pair were not always at the house.

Mya Logan, who lives in Neuk Crescent, said she saw one man washing a jeep-style car outside the house around two weeks ago. She said: "I saw a big 4x4-type vehicle outside the house a couple of times. I remember seeing an Asian guy cleaning it."

May Gordon, another neighbour, told how she had never seen anyone using the property, which she said was strange. Mrs Gordon, 67, said: "Whoever it was kept very much to themselves. They come and they go. These people are the first ones who have hardly spoken since they arrived." Investigations in Houston began at 7pm on Saturday when plain-clothes officers questioned staff in the local Co-op store.

Yesterday morning an unmarked white van was parked at an angle outside the house in Neuk Crescent and a large tent was erected at the rear of the property.

Police wearing white protective suits were seen entering the house, which is around 15 minutes drive from Glasgow Airport. It can be easily accessed along a back road which skirts the former Bishopton munitions plant and then follows the airport fence perimeter.

Access is via a dedicated sliproad at the St James interchange, which allows drivers to reach the airport avoiding the M8, where Automatic Number Plate Recognition (ANPR) software in gantry cameras could have detected a suspicious vehicle. In Neuk Crescent there was police activity throughout yesterday. Early in the morning residents were told they would not be allowed to move their cars out of the street and were advised to remain indoors.

Although they were later allowed to walk down the street, they were escorted by police as the street, which runs down on to Houston Road, remained cordoned off.

In nearby North Street a stretch of the road, including a car park, was also sealed off. Locals said a white van in the car park appeared to have been the focus of attention. They added that the van had regularly been seen parked in various locations around the village over the past few weeks.

Residents said they were shocked the anti-terror investigation had ended up in Houston. "It is quite frightening," said Cheryl Stewart, 27, who lives in Neuk Crescent. "Houston is a quiet village and you don't expect these kinds of things to happen here. There are a lot of kids in this street who all go out to play. It is thought to be a very safe, family-friendly street."

Neighbour John Pirret added: "I woke up to the police outside and the road cordoned off. It is quite shocking when it lands on your door."

Later, in Paisley, there was further drama at the Royal Alexandra Hospital where one suspect remains in a critical condition under armed guard. A vast area around the hospital was cordoned off yesterday afternoon as a controlled explosion was carried out on a car, understood to have belonged to the owner of the Neuk Crescent house.

Drivers were turned away from the road surrounding the hospital and emergency patients were instead taken to hospitals in Glasgow.