AN AIR ambulance was called to a fear for welfare incident at a sports and leisure centre yesterday evening.

Major police presence was spotted outisde of the Spiceball Centre in Banbury with two police cars, two ambulances and a helicopter attending the scene.

A spokesperson for Thames Valley Police confirmed a man had a medical emergency and officers assisted and set up a short road closure at Cherwell Avenue for the air ambulance to land.

The man was then taken to hospital.

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While the nature of the medical emergency has not been confirmed yet, speculation on social media suggested that a gentleman was rescued from the pool.

People who were using the facilities at the centre at around 6pm last night when the incident happened took to Facebook to applaud the staff at Spiceball.

One user Michelle Farmer wrote on Banburyshire Info: "I take my hat off to all the employees and lifeguards, who were very professional in an emergency and tried to make sure, as best they could, that the children didn't see anything distressing.

"I hope the gentleman makes a full recovery."

Another, Hayley Anderson, who said she arrived at the pool as emergency alarms went off, said: "Once alerted, the lifeguards, staff and first aiders did do a very good job at springing to action clearing the area, performing emergency treatment and keeping it going until the paramedics arrived."

Ms Anderson added: "It is heartbreaking that the incident wasn't noticed sooner but they still acted very professionally and quickly once the gentleman was out of the pool."