Major firearms factory linked to Manchester gangs uncovered in rural spa town

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It is one of England’s most stunning and historic spa towns, boasting Georgian crescents, Victorian arcades, a Grade II*-listed opera house and spring water famed for its healing powers.

But police have now found that genteel Buxton, in rural Derbyshire, has also become the unlikely home for something rather less visitor-friendly: a major weapons factory supplying deadly ammunition to gangs in Manchester.

A house in a quiet cul-de-sac overlooking the Peak District has been converted into a key supply hub for major criminal players in the city, detectives suggested on Tuesday.

They spoke after swooping on the property, in the town’s Walker Brow, and finding bullets, gun parts and a variety of tools used for making firearms. A 20-year-old was arrested and remains in custody.

Detective constable Christopher Chinnery, of Greater Manchester Police’s serious and organised crime unit, the raid would disrupt the deadly flow of ammo into the city.

"This is a significant discovery as part of our commitment to tackle the use of firearms and gang-related crime in Greater Manchester,” he said. "These items could have led to devastating consequences."

Manchester police are currently dealing with what they believe is a three-way gun war between two Cheetam Hill gangs and another group from Salford.

It has led to a spate of shootings over the last year, most recently in September when a 27-year-old man was shot multiple times .

In Salford there have been five unconnected shootings since September, including three in a week last month.

Earlier this year, in June, two men died in the city’s Moss Side area after a shooting during an illegal lockdown party.