A MAN sparked a major security scare in Bolton early on Tuesday after threatening terrified residents with a gun.

Armed police were called to two homes within a mile of each other after two people were threatened in the early hours.

It is thought the same man was seen earlier brandishing a handgun at Middlebrook Retail Park in Horwich before embarking on an hour-long campaign of terror.

The drama began when armed police were called by security staff at Middlebrook after they saw a man leaving the Vue cinemas with a gun at around 11.55pm.

He was then seen speaking to the occupants of a Vauxhall Astra before driving off in a BMW.

Nearly half-an-hour later, a 33-year-old woman called police after spotting a man in the garden of her home in Rutherford Drive, Over Hulton, pointing a gun at his own head.

At about 12.30am, the man called at a house in St Helens Road, Middle Hulton. When the occupier answered the door, he was confronted by the man, who pointed the gun at the householder's head and threatened to shoot him.

Police officers patrolling the area spotted the BMW which the man had earlier been seen with and stopped it in Derby Street, Daubhill. Armed police later surrounded the car and arrested the occupants.

Three men in the car, aged 32, 20 and 19, believed to be friends, were arrested on suspicion of possessing a firearm with intent to cause fear.

Officers then searched a house in Sutton Road, Deane, where the Vauxhall Astra, seen earlier at the Middlebrook Retail Park, was parked and a 23-year-old woman was also arrested.

All four people are being held at Bolton Central Police Station and will be questioned by police later today.

The gun will be sent for forensic tests.

One resident in St Helens Road said: "It was terrifying. You hear about these type of incidents, but you never imagine that it could happen right on your doorstep."

Another neighbour said: "I heard police outside in the early hours of the morning but didn't realise there was somebody with a gun."

The woman in Rutherford Drive who saw the man pointing a gun at his own head did not wish to comment.