SAWN-OFF shotgun, a loaded pistol fitted with a silencer and £11,000 of crack cocaine and cannabis has been uncovered in police raids.

SAWN-OFF shotgun, a loaded pistol fitted with a silencer and £11,000 of crack cocaine and cannabis has been uncovered in police raids.

Officers have hailed the crackdown as a blow to drugs gangs in Bolton.

And people living in Mayor Street, where the raids took place, have expressed their relief the guns are off the streets.

The street overlooks Queens Park, which has become a focus for rival gangs in recent years.

Only last year shell casings from a sub-machine gun used to execute a Salford supermarket worker were found there.

While Greater Manchester police say the raids carried out on Friday were not aimed at targeting a specific gang , the seizure of two firearms is a significant setback for organised criminals in the area.

Early on Friday morning officers from GMP’s Xcalibre Organised Crime Unit raided a flat above Pak Foods Asian grocers, which is not connected, and a neighbouring terraced house.

Crack cocaine worth £5,000 and cannabis worth up to £6,000 were recovered from the flat.

In the terraced house a few doors away officer found a sawn-off shotgun and a loaded 9mm Baikal handgun fitted with a silencer and a large amount of 0.303 ammunition which can be lethal, even when fired from long range.

A 52-year-old man was arrested on suspicion of possession of Class A and Class B drugs with intent to supply and a 35-year-old man was arrested on suspicion of possessing firearms with intent to endanger life and possession of ammunition.

Both men have been released on police bail until January 20 and the guns and ammunition have been sent off for forensic tests.

The raids were carried out as part of the ongoing Operation Brunel, targeting organised crime groups involved in supplying hard drugs in Bolton and Bury, Rochdale Oldham and North Manchester.

Detective Insp Rick Mortimer hailed the latest raids as “a fantastic result.”

"One more gun off our streets is an excellent result as it means one less weapon that could be used to injure or even kill someone,” he said.

“Although it is very difficult to say exactly what these guns were intended for, clearly any firearm has the potential to cause serious injury or even a fatality so to have seized both a sawn-off shotgun and a handgun before they can hurt someone is a good result.”

Several communities in Bolton have been blighted by drug gangs and last year their were three shootings as rival gangs fought a turf war on the streets of the town.

And in June this year an elderly couple in Leonard Street, Great Lever had their living room window shot at by a man riding a motorbike and carrying a sawn off shotgun.

Neighbours in Mayor Street welcomed the increased police activity.

All were too afraid to be named but one 23-year-old man told The Bolton News how the area has deteriorated in the 10 years he has lived there.

“It has got a lot worse due to the gangs. Lots of groups gather on the park, making noise and being violent.

“There have been shootings and it is worrying because there are a lot of children round here.

“I am glad the guns are off the streets. It will make life easier for everyone.”

Another resident added: “People have been frightened of the gangs. It is very bad.”

DI Mortimer urged the community who may have information about illegal firearms to call the Xcalibre unit on 0161 856 6479 or Crimestoppers anonymously on 0800 555 111.

“We have listened to what our communities have been telling us about how drug dealers blight their area, and we have sent a strong message that those who line their pockets by preying upon other people’s addictions will be targeted,” said DI Mortimer.