Two men have been arrested after a spate of robberies by men 'in balaclavas armed with machetes'.
Police were first called shortly before 9.40am today, August 14, to reports of two people 'in balaclavas armed with machetes threatening staff at a shop on Bradwell Road', Lowton, according to officers.
Within just 15 minutes, even more reports were then received by police from stores on Warrington Road, Elliott Street and Green Street in Leigh - all believed to have been targeted by the pair.
During the 'violent incidents', a male shop worker was attacked and had to be rushed to hospital for treatment of a 'serious but not life-threatening head injury'.
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Another person also suffered minor injures, Greater Manchester Police has said.
Police patrols and specialist officers were deployed to the scene, along with a police helicopter.
Two men aged 36 and 21 were arrested on suspicion of robbery.
They have since been taken into custody for questioning.
A vehicle believed to have been involved has also been recovered. Enquiries suggest it was stolen from an address in Heywood on Friday (13 August), the force added.
Property understood to have been stolen during the robbery has been located, as well as items of clothing that the suspects are believed to have worn during the spate of incidents.
Detective Chief Inspector Dean Purtill, of GMP's West Command area, said: "This was a frightening series of four violent incidents that took place earlier today, and it is thanks to first class police work that two suspects have been brought to custody and no further innocent people have been hurt.
"Our officers work relentlessly to help protect the public from incidents like these, and in the rare but frightening occasions that they occur, we will always race to the scene to do what we can to bring an incident to a safe conclusion.
"We have two men we are currently questioning in relation to this incident, but our enquiries are very much ongoing and anyone with information is asked to contact us with any details they may have that could be relevant to this investigation."
Anyone with information about the incident is asked to contact police online, if able, via www.gmp.police.uk or call 101 quoting incident 1118 of 14/08/2021. Details can also be passed anonymously to the independent charity Crimestoppers on 0800 555 111.
