As a responsible and legitimate owner of RIF's (Replica Imitation Firearm) this sickens me. The sport I partake in, Airsoft (
UK Airsoft news. for more info) has been under a lot of light from the government lately, mainly because of scallies with cheap "market stall springers" roaming the streets with their rifs. Which is what this sounds like.
As of october 1st of this year the Violent Crimes Reduction Act (VCRA) states that the sale of RIF's to people who do not have a legitimate use for them is illegal. It is also illegal for anyone to brandish a RIF in a public place. if the police were called an armed response unit would have been dispatched and would have been on the scene as quickly as they could. Having dealt with the Armed police on several occasions (through the shooting club I am part of) I am quite sure of this.
The thing is though, the armed police will deal with any RIF as if it w as a real firearm. So if you called them saying "I have seen a youth with a gun on xxx street" they would be prepared to deal with the situation using deadly force if necessary, which is how we get these "Kid shot dead by the police" news stories...