A Little Hulton gunman on the run from the police was today urged to surrender - for his own safety.

The 32-year-old - wanted for questioning about a serious crime - has been spotted on several occasions brandishing a shotgun on local streets sparking alarm among residents in Little Hulton and Walkden.

The man has also phoned the police indicating his intention to surrender. But this lunchtime he was still being hunted.

He has threatened to shoot if he is confronted by a police officer.

Armed officers are involved in the hunt for the man who lives in Little Hulton and has family living in Farnworth.

In one incident yesterday officers from GMP's Firearms Unit surrounded a block of flats in Windsor Avenue, Walkden, after residents reported a man, carrying a shotgun, had been seen entering.

Nearby roads were sealed off and the flats were searched but the gunman managed to escape.

He telephoned the police last night and was urged by officers to surrender.

Today Det Chief Insp Kenny Caldwell, of Swinton CID, said: "He knows we want him and that sooner or later we will get him.

"We want him to surrender himself to the police as soon as possible. His family also want him to give himself up before he is injured in some way.

"While he is carrying a firearm and is a threat we have to respond to that threat by using armed officers. We are not going to go away.

"This man must give himself up now. He has no other alternative."

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