The Greater Manchester town that never expected to be in the middle of a gang war

manchestereveningnews.co.uk:

In the early hours of Sunday morning a small town on the outskirts of Bolton was rocked by an hour of shocking violence. In the space of just 60 minutes several homes and cars were set ablaze in the Farnworth, Great Lever and Daubhill areas in a series of arson attacks.

In one of the homes a young family slept inside as a 'petrol bomb' was hurled at their front door. Detectives say the fires are 'linked' and are treating the incidents as targeted. READ MORE: Join the FREE Manchester Evening News WhatsApp community As the Manchester Evening News reported it's understood from police sources that the attacks followed a dispute between gangs in the area.

Speaking this week, Mohammed Ayub, a councillor in Great Lever, said the feud came about following a split in a gang based across Farnworth and Great Lever.

He said: "My understanding is it's a war between gangs. There's been a falling out within a gang and now it's tit-for-tat. "They probably don't realise how dangerous these attacks are, but I know that two occupants of the houses that were targeted are severely disabled. "If the fire had spread to the houses they would have stood no chance. [Gang-related crime] is something new that's crept up over the last year or so." Farnworth might seem like an unusual place for this type of violence to occur.