A MAN was attacked in the street by five men armed with a baseball bat just a day before a similar ambush at a takeaway, it has emerged.

Police are linking the incident in Castle Street at 11pm on Saturday with a large-scale brawl outside Allen's Fried Chicken in Bury Road the following afternoon.

The victim in Castle Street was on his own when he was assaulted by five men, one of whom was carrying a baseball bat, according to police.

He was not seriously hurt, but a member of the public raised the alarm after seeing what they believed were cars "racing" in the street.

All five men were described as Asian and aged in their 20s, a police spokesman said.

It is thought the incident and the ambush of two men ordering a takeaway the next day are linked to a turf war between rival gangs.

At this stage it is not clear whether the Allen's fried chicken ambush was carried out by the same men as the one in Castle Street, or whether it was in retaliation to it.

In the Bury Road incident, five men who had scarves covering their faces jumped out of a blue BMW after it screeched to a halt outside the takeaway at about 3.50pm.

Carrying sledgehammers and baseball bats, they initially attacked two men who were at the counter inside, before they started smashing two white 4x4 vehicles that were parked outside.

Up to five other men inside the white cars got out to join in the melee, which ended with one of the 4x4s crashing into the BMW after it was driven at the attackers.

Two men, aged 28 and 30, have been arrested on suspicion of violent disorder.

Castle Street, The Haulgh, is home to one of Bolton's most notorious drugs gangs, who were involved in a drugs turf war with a gang from Gilnow Road.

In 2011, their feud led to the fatal shooting of a man in the Brookhouse Wines supermarket in Eccles after hitman Simeon Henderson blasted shopkeeper Nasar Hussain with a machine gun.

Anyone with information about either incident can call police on 0161 8565619.