A MAN has been charged with possession of a shotgun after police swooped on a garden in a Little Lever.

Jarod Alan Thornton, aged 38, of Park Road, Little Lever, has been charged with making and possessing a sawn-off shotgun.

The charge relates to an incident at 8.45am on Sunday, when police swooped on the village after receiving reports of a man carrying a gun in Park Road.

No-one was threatened or injured during the incident.

Mr Thornton appeared at Bolton Magistrates Court on Monday and has been remanded in custody.

He will appear at Bolton Crown Court on August 29.