TWO men in 'balaclavas armed with machetes' threatened shop staff during a spate of robberies.

Officers were called shortly before 9.40am on Saturday morning to reports of threats at a shop on Bradwell Road, Leigh.

In the following 15 minutes, more calls were received regarding stores on Warrington Road, Elliott Street and Green Street which are believed to have been targeted by the pair.

One male shop worker was taken to hospital for treatment for a 'serious, but thankfully not life-threatening' head injury. One other person also suffered minor injuries.

Officers, along with support from specialist resources included a police helicopter, arrested two men - aged 36 and 21 - on suspicion of robbery and they have since been taken to custody for questioning.

A vehicle believed to be involved in the incidents has also been recovered and enquiries suggest it was stolen from an address in Heywood on Friday (13 August).

Property that is understood to have been stolen during the robbery has been located, as well as items of clothing that the transgressors are believed to have worn during the offending.

Detective Chief Inspector Dean Purtill, of GMP's West Command area, said: "This was a frightening series of four violent incidents that took place earlier today, and it is thanks to first class police work that two suspects have been brought to custody and no further innocent people have been hurt.

"Our officers work relentlessly to help protect the public from incidents like these, and in the rare but frightening occasions that they occur, we will always race to the scene to do what we can to bring an incident to a safe conclusion.

"We have two men we are currently questioning in relation to this incident, but our enquiries are very much ongoing and anyone with information is asked to contact us with any details they may have that could be relevant to this investigation."

Anyone with information about the incident is asked to contact police online, if able, via www.gmp.police.uk or call 101 quoting incident 1118 of 14/08/2021. Details can also be passed anonymously to the independent charity Crimestoppers on 0800 555 111.