Hundreds of residents in Tredegar Park, a community on the outskirts of Spanish Town, St Catherine, yesterday fled their homes after receiving an ultimatum from gunmen to leave.

From as early as 11 a.m., residents from an enclave called Gravel Heights loaded furniture and other possessions on to trucks, ironically under the watchful eyes of police personnel who stood guard.

"We build our houses to live here after getting the land to buy from Operation PRIDE. Some pay off, others still owe. However, we did not expect gunmen to give us ultimatum to leave our investment," remarked Michael Glades, a resident.

Though tension has reigned in the area for months, the situation escalated after a police-military operation on Saturday night. Persons being sought by the police have allegedly accused residents of being informants.