Horwich: Large police presence as street cordoned off

Four force vehicles were seen on George's Lane in Horwich at around 10.30am today. 

Officers were said to not be letting anyone up the road, although they were letting people out of it onto Chorley Old Road. 

Multiple eyewitnesses have said that "armed police" were present, but GMP have not confirmed this. 

Officers were not said to be on scene for long, only around "half an hour". 

One resident said: "We saw officers blocking off George's Lane. My wife said she heard a bang that sounded like a gun this morning, it sounded like it was off in the distance. 

"There is the quarry up there, but we don't usually hear bangs from the quarry. 

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"They wouldn't let anyone go up the road. They stopped everything, it was a bit unusual. 

Police on scene (Image: Public)

"There were three police cars and one unmarked one. One of them had a helmet on, a black canvas helmet." 

The resident said one of the police officers appeared to be carrying "a taser or a gun". 

He added: "It didn't last very long, around half an hour or so." 

Another eyewitness said: "There were three police cars that came charging up at around 10am. One was unmarked and two had the blues and twos on. 

"They went up George's Lane." 

The eyewitness said there were armed police on scene. 

One other eyewitness described there as being a "big police armed response" present at around 10.30am. 

Greater Manchester Police have been approached for comment.