Men arrested for 'preparing acts of terrorism' in Greater Manchester

Three men have been arrested on suspicion of planning terrorism offences.

Greater Manchester Police carried out four raids in the Bolton, Great Lever, Abram and Hindley areas, at around 7.30pm on Wednesday 8 May.

The men, aged 35, 36 and 51, were arrested at separate locations and have been taken into custody for questioning.

Scenes remain in place at the four addresses as enquiries are being carried out.

One is on Crankwood Road in Abram, with forensic officers and tactical aid unit officers spotted scouring an address on the street late last night. A second scene is on Fairclough Street in Hindley.

Two further scenes are in place in Great Lever and Bolton, though the specific streets have not yet been disclosed. The scenes are expected to remain in place for a number of days.

Assistant Chief Constable Rob Potts, who holds responsibility for counter terrorism policing in the North West, said: “We have executed a number of planned warrants as part of an ongoing counter terrorism investigation.

"Three men have been taken into custody for questioning and scenes remain in place as we conduct further enquiries.

"Today’s activity has been the culmination of much detailed planning and we have put measures in place to minimise disruption to local residents as much as possible.

"I understand that any time arrests of this nature are made it will cause concerns and people will naturally have questions.

"Although we can’t go into specific details of the investigation at this stage, I want to reassure members of the public that we do not currently believe there to be any wider threat linked to today’s activity.

"Further detail will be released where appropriate as the investigation progresses.”

Efforts are being made to minimise disruption to local residents as much as possible, officers added.