Police officers have been granted new powers to tackle crime after a shooting and firebomb attack in Bootle.
Officers were called out to Hawthorne Road at around 10pm on Wednesday to reports that shots had been fired at a group on the street.
The gunman was then driven from the scene on the back of a motorbike .
At around 3am on Friday morning, officers were again called to the same area after a house was firebombed on Norfolk Close.
A car was also fire damaged in the attack and police are treating it as "suspected malicious ignition".
The two incidents occurred just a few hundred yards apart.
Now, in an attempt to crack down on crime in the area, police have been granted special stop and search powers for the areas involved.
A Section 60 stop and search order has been authorised and began running at 3.15pm today (Friday 21 June) and will conclude at 4am tomorrow.
It gives officers powers to stop and search people in the area.
The Section 60 search area is shown on the attached map and covers the area including and within the boundary of Linacre Lane, Fernhill Road, Stanley Road and Balliol Road.
A spokesperson for Merseyside Police said: "Section 60 is a power under the Criminal Justice and Public Order 1994 that allows police officers to stop and search.
"Where a Section 60 is in place, it means we can search anyone in a certain area, for example, when there is evidence that serious violence has taken place or may take place."
Temporary Chief Inspector Matthew Moscrop said: "This order is not about bothering people, young or old, who are going about their legitimate daily activity in the area.
“But we recognise the impact incidents such as the shooting on Hawthorne Road on Wednesday night and yesterday’s arson on Norfolk Street can have on individuals and communities, and we will be targeting people involved in this type of behaviour.
"The dispersal zone gives us the powers we need to deal effectively with people and I would urge anyone in the area who has any information about criminal activity to contact @MerPolCC, call 101 or Crimestoppers anonymously on 0800 555 111."
