A father is furious that police used what he believed to be CS spray near children at a busy Oxford shopping centre.

Tim Lawrence, of Blewbury, was at the Westgate Centre yesterday (Fri) with his one-year-old daughter Alice when he saw plain-clothed police officers grappling with a man near Vision Express.

He said they wrestled the man into a nearby corridor where he believed they used some kind of noxious spray on him.

Mr Lawrence and his daughter then started coughing and felt a burning sensation in their eyes. Parents were queuing with their babies at a stand near the optician's store where photographers were taking pictures for the Oxford Mail's Baby of the Year competition.

Mr Lawrence said: "I was standing around watching and they (the police) took him into a corridor.

"Minutes later, my eyes started stinging and I started coughing. It was horrible, like sniffing chilli powder. Using pepper spray right by babies and children is appalling."

Photographer Ben Taylor, of BCR Photographic, said he also believed spray had been used. "You could just feel it in the air," he said. "I suppose a few children may have been affected, but the police have to do what they have to do."

Vision Express manager Ebony Miatt said she had been told to clean up the corridor by the store where a CS residue remained.

Police spokesman Victoria Bartlett did not confirm that spray had been used but said it was feasible if someone was resisting arrest.

On police policy on the use of CS spray in enclosed spaces, she said: "The situation is risk-assessed. If it had been deemed a risk to the public, the shopping centre would have been evacuated."

A man has been arrested on suspicion of possessing class C drugs, resisting arrest and assaulting a policeman.