Machete Gang Raid Manchester Fireworks Warehouse

20 October 2011, 07:39 | Updated: 30 March 2016, 13:50

7 men have been arrested after armed robbers tied up security guards while stealing a large amount of fireworks from a Manchester warehouse.

Shortly after 1am yesterday, Wednesday 19 October 2011, police received a report of a robbery at to a warehouse on Hargreaves Street, Strangeways.

It is believed up to 10 masked men armed with machetes had burst into the premises, tied up two security guards and spent around an hour removing a large amount of fireworks.

The security guards managed to free themselves and called the police.

Four men were arrested on suspicion of robbery shortly after in Blackfriars, Salford, after abandoning a vehicle nearby. A further three men have been arrested this morning. (Thursday)

The security guards were not injured in the incident but left distressed by what happened.

Police believe a lorry or truck would have been used to load the fireworks onto and now want to hear from anyone with information.

Detective Sergeant Alex Wild, of North Manchester CID, said: "We have four men in our cells but we want the public's help to catch the rest of this criminal gang.

They subjected the security guards to an hour-long ordeal in which they didn't know whether they would be harmed or not.

Thankfully they were not injured, but that doesn't lessen the impact this crime will have on them mentally.

Strangeways is a busy part of town, even in the early hours, so I want to hear from anyone who saw anything suspicious in the Hargreaves Street area to get in touch.

We have recovered a car but we believe they would have needed a much larger vehicle to steal so many firworks."

Anyone with information is asked to call North Manchester CID on 0161 856 3540 or independent charity Crimestoppers anonymously on 0800 555 111.