Wigan neighbourhood cordoned off after bomb squad finds ‘suspicious items’ before cops raid Salman Abedi’s local barbers – as 18-year-old is one of eight arrested over terror offences

POLICE have raided suicide bomber Salam Abedi's local barbers hours after "suspicious items" were found during a string of terror crackdowns across the north west.

Officers in Wigan, Manchester and St Helen's were called into action over fears there may be a second bomb in the hands of extremists.

Fears are mounting that the Manchester suicide bomber may have built another device which is now with his jihadist pals.

Police who searched his home earlier this week allegedly discovered a huge stash of explosive chemicals and other components.

Since then several raids have taken place in and around the Manchester area - including four in the last 24 hours.

Last night, a man was arrested in Wigan with dramatic video footage showing cops swarming on the suspect.

Hours later Greater Manchester Police made an arrest at a house in the Moss Side area of the city - bringing the total number detained to eight.

Those arrested are all suspected of terror offences and are aged between 18 and 38, Greater Manchester Police said today.

A 16-year-old boy has been released without charge.

A police cordon is now in place around the Fade'Away barbershop in Princess Road, near to the junction of Claremont Road, Moss Side.

The shutters were down on the shop although part of it appeared to have been cut open to allow access to the front door.

A marked police van is now parked outside the store next to a bus stop with a number of officers guarding the cordon.

It was placed around the building, which stretches to an adjoining chemist, cafe and upstairs flats, at 6am.

Officers were later seen leaving the property carrying bags - including one which seemed to contain a laptop computer.

One local shopkeeper told Sky News how Abedi was a regular at Fade'Away.

Byron Gibbs, who works at a neighbouring hardware store, said: "The chap that they show on television, he was a regular."

When asked if he meant Salam Abedi, Mr Gibbs replied "yes."

He also revealed the business has been closed since Tuesday, which he said was very unusual.

After the Wigan operation, Greater Manchester Police said: "Potentially suspicious items were found at the address and a large cordon has been put in place as EOD make an assessment.

"We have a number of officers on the ground and are evacuating people as a matter of precaution as public safety is paramount to our investigation.

"We are working with the local authority to accommodate those who have been evacuated."

Pictures from the scene showed army bomb squads with robots investigating inside a large cordon with families pictured leaving their homes.

People were able to return to their properties at about 9.15pm last night.

Undercover officers also swooped on a suspect reportedly carrying a “suspicious package” in Wigan yesterday as the number of arrests made in connection with Monday's atrocity grew.

This morning police raided a pizza shop in St Helens area of Merseyside.

The landlord of the business spoke of his shock.

Officers stormed Lorenzo Pizza in St Helens, Merseyside, at 5am today as part of an ongoing investigation by counter terror police.

Steven Chowdhury, 54, has owned the building for 10 years and rented it out to a Libyan man.

Steven said: “They rented downstairs. He's been trying to find a buyer for this place.

“They closed this business about three weeks

“They were behind on rent, very much so. It wasn't viable for them to travel from Manchester every day.

“They've rented downstairs from last July. I don't know what to think about it.

“I was so shocked. I had a call from the police at 8am. They asked if I owned the shop and I asked what it was about, they wanted to know names and addresses.

“They came in the shop at 5am and removed some paperwork."

Superintendent Louise Harrison said: "I understand that this kind of activity can cause concern for people living in nearby communities and would like to thank them for their understanding and patience.

“As a result of today’s operation, Merseyside Police is working very closely with community groups, community leaders, partner agencies and individuals to make sure concerns are addressed and that we provide the best possible service to local people.

“Over the coming days and weeks we will be continuing to work with our local communities to address any concerns they may have. We always need the public’s help to defeat terrorism by being extra vigilant and letting us know of any suspicious behaviour or activity.

“Terrorists want to create discord in our communities, but Merseyside has a long history of our communities living and working together. This is a time for us all to work closely together and unite against those who seek, through violence and extremism, to divide us.

“Public safety is the paramount concern for the police and will continue to be our top priority and we have a duty to act and protect the public. We cannot be complacent and cannot take chances in situations such as this and police and the security services must act on information received.”

Elsewhere, security minister Ben Wallace told BBC Radio 4's Today programme there was no specific threat against an individual event at the moment.

Mr Wallace went on to say that the scale of the challenge was the major issue facing security services and the sheer volume of people needing to be assessed.

Whitehall sources revealed on Thursday that security services are managing around 500 active investigations relating to 3,000 people of interest.

"All those people are in the mix and they have to be looked at," said Mr Wallace.

"And then below the 3,000 is another 12,000 people who have in the past come to our attention and haven't necessarily shown signs of doing anything at all, or no longer posing a risk.

"All of that is predominately underpinned by intelligence, which as I'm sure you will understand and the courts certainly understand, unfortunately the hardest part is we've got to convert intelligence into evidence if we actually want to deprive people of their liberty or take certain step."

Abedi detonated a nail bomb at the end of an Ariana Grande concert killing 22 and injuring scores more on Monday.