A TEENAGER was found carrying two BB guns on a night in Bolton where two other dangerous weapons were seized in the town, police have said.

Volunteer officers stopped a 14-year-old boy near Bolton Skatepark on Friday at around 8pm after a report was made of someone carrying a handgun.

Specials officers, who give up their time for police, arrived and said the boy told them he did not think about the severity of carrying the weapons.

The youngster was remorseful and was dropped off at home after being given a warning.

A few hours later, at around midnight, specials spotted a carrier bag which appeared to contain suspicious-looking items on Blackburn Road in Astley Bridge.

They found an ornamental sword and an axe inside the bag.

The weapons were then seized.

Sharing pictures of the weapons on social media, a specials spokesman said: “It was a great team effort on Friday and it just shows the difference we make, have a look at what we took of the streets.”

In another incident that the Specials dealt with on Friday, an arrest was made in hospital with a person being taken into custody on suspicion of being drunk and disorderly.

As a result, one of the officers completed a 16-hour shift in an another example which shows the commitment of the specials in Bolton.

Although the specials are pivotal in carrying out duties that regular officers may not have time to do such as dealing with anti-social behaviour across the borough, they are not afraid of putting themselves in harm’s way when called upon.

They have dealt with a number of violent incidents in recent weeks.

The officers come from a range of different backgrounds.

A pharmacist, a cyber security operations manager, a mental health nurse, an account manager, a transport ticket inspector, an IT architect, two supermarket shop assistants, a football coach, a recruitment consultant and a teaching assistant are on the team.

Specials Chief Inspector Phil Heyes covers Bolton, Bury and Wigan.

He said GMP has “come leaps and strides in the last 10 years” with the specials.

Specials CI Heyes added that the Specials are “massively important” to the force, giving police officers extra resources to carry out duties.