A GANG of masked men who smashed their way into a gun shop in Bolton escaped with a cache of ten shotguns.

As revealed in the Bolton Evening News on Wednesday night the guns were stolen from Target Sports, Halliwell Road, Halliwell, when five masked men forced their way through security shutters.

The head of Bolton Police, Chief Supt Dave Lea, said he feared the guns could fall into the hands of underworld gangs but he reassured the public that his officers would use all available resources would be used to trace them.

"We will not tolerate the criminal use of of firearms of any kind and in any way on the streets of Bolton," he warned.

"We will put all the resources we can into recovering the firearms as quickly as we possibly can and we would urge the public to come forward with any information. As part of the ongoing investigation, we will be looking at how the guns were stored.

"It seems these people knew exactly what they were going for when the entered the shop."

The shop's owner and police were yesterday examining stock to establish if any other goods had been taken from the store. The men, all wearing balaclavas, struck at the gun shop, which also sells hunting rifles, crossbows, knives, swords and archery equipment, at around 1.15am. They forced up shutters before smashing their way into the shop through a window.

They were then seen fleeing the scene in a white Vauxhall saloon which was later found abandoned in Woodhouse Park, south Manchester.

Anyone who with information on the whereabouts of the guns is asked to call Bolton CID on 0161 856 5740 or Crimestoppers on 0800 555 111.