DORSET police have apologised to a man who was pinned to Bournemouth railway station platform by armed police in a case of mistaken identity.

And the force has voluntarily referred the incident to the Independent Police Complaints Commission (IPCC).

Yesterday the Daily Echo exclusively revealed how a 21-year-old Bournemouth man had been ordered at gunpoint to lie on the ground, searched and handcuffed after armed officers swooped on the station just before 6pm on Saturday.

The arrest happened after Dorset police was contacted by Hampshire Constabulary following an alleged armed incident in Basingstoke and a man being identified by a British Transport Police officer on a train travelling into Dorset.

A Dorset police spokesman said the man detained had been taken to Bournemouth police station and released immediately after "it quickly became clear that it was a case of mistaken identity".

The force has apologised to the man and his family. A senior Dorset police officer has visited them and "on-going support" is being provided.

A Hampshire police spokeswoman said five men had been arrested on Sunday morning following Saturday's incident in Basingstoke. They were released on bail pending further enquiries.

She said the arrest of the innocent man had happened after descriptions were circulated of people thought to have been involved in Saturday's incident.

"A British Transport police officer on the train, who was aware of the descriptions, contacted the Hampshire control room," she said.

Jocelyn Cockburn, a specialist in civil liberties at London-based law firms Hodge Jones & Allen said: "The IPCC will investigate the matter to see if the arrest was unlawful and whether the police actions constitute an assault.

"They will look at questions such as whether the arrest was based on a reasonable and honest belief by the police.

"They will also look at whether the way the police carried out the arrest, by holding this man at gunpoint in public, was an excessive show of force.

"This man may not only have the right to make a complaint against the police but may also have grounds for claiming compensation for any damage, including the trauma he may have suffered, and should be considering seeking legal advice."