Armed police surround factory, but ‘gunshots’ were workers playing cricket

Armed police swooped on a factory after reports of gunshots – and found startled workers in the middle of a game of cricket. The firearms cops, supported by the force helicopter, surrounded Power Star in Cheadle after reports that a gun had been fired five times. But when the shocked suspects emerged they were armed with nothing more than a cricket bat and a ball.

The workers at the sports equipment factory had been watching England play in the cricket World Cup and decided to recreate the match after finishing work. It is thought the ‘gunshot’ sound was made by the ball hitting a metal shutter. Worker Mohammed Ijaz, 25, said: "We’d been watching the England match and finished work so thought we may as well play cricket. We were just messing around and could hear shouting saying ‘Come out! Come out!’.



"At first we carried on as we didn’t realise it was to do with us. But when we realised it was, we headed outside and as soon as we opened the door we could see lots of armed police. It was a bit of a shock but they were just doing their job." Police say the report of gunshots at the factory on Demmings Road Industrial Estate was made by a passer-by in good faith.

Chief Superintendent Rebekah Sutcliffe said: "All reports of gunshots are taken very seriously and because of the potential threat to people’s lives we have to take swift and appropriate action to deal with these very serious risks. Specially-trained firearms officers are always deployed because they have the necessary skills to be able to deal with these threats safely and minimise risks to the public. As soon as it became apparent there was no threat, the officers quickly left the scene."