Three arrested after imitation firearms found in Ashton and Mossley

Three men have been arrested after police seized 6 imitation firearms in Tameside.

Police were originally called to reports of a man with a knife on Mossley Road in Ashton just before 8:30pm last night (Sunday 13 December).

As officers were on their way to the scene, they were told that the man was brandishing a gun.

Armed officers were then deployed to the area and three men - aged 50, 43 and 26 - were arrested on suspicion of firearms offences. They remain in custody for questioning.

Police recovered six guns from the scene, which were later confirmed to be BB guns.

A property in Mossley was the searched, where officers found three more BB guns, a crossbow and an axe.

Inspector Timothy Rudd, of GMP's Tameside district, said: "Whilst we have now confirmed that the firearm was a BB gun, this does not alter how seriously we must take reports of this nature.

"It is completely unacceptable that weapons were being brandished out in the street in this way, and I appreciate that this was an incredibly frightening situation for members of the public who would have been none the wiser as to whether the weapon was a live firearm or not.

"The public should be reassured that armed response officers quickly responded the situation and we were able to recover the weapons and arrest the suspects."