A number of homes were evacuated on Friday afternoon (July 7) after bomb disposal teams were called to a property in Fallowfield. A 67-year-old man who was arrested remains in custody for questioning.
Garswood Road, between Aston Avenue and Lloyd Street, was taped off around 1pm with residents surrounding the property in question asked to leave their homes. Police, fire, and ambulance crews were at the scene throughout the afternoon with a bomb disposal unit also carrying out investigations.
Police say this happened after 'a number of offensive weapons and a suspected grenade' were recovered from a property following a warrant on Thursday (July 6) morning. The 'offensive weapons' is understood to have included knives with the grenade being 'military memorabilia' which contained no explosives.
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The 67-year-old was arrested on suspicion of possession of offensive weapons. The road was re-opened around 5.30pm with residents allowed back into their homes
One resident outside of the cordon said: "It's not everyday you get bomb disposal in Fallowfield. There are just so many police here, we had no idea what was going on."
Some trying to return to their homes before the cordon was lifted were left frustrated at not being let back in. One said: "We were just told we needed to leave but not given much of a reason why. Thankfully it was not too long but it was very worrying at first."
"You would never expect to see bomb disposal on your street," another resident said. "It's usually very quiet here so this has come as a bit of a surprise."
A police cordon remained in place around the property which was raided. In a further statement issued on Friday night, GMP said: "It has been determined that the suspected grenade was military memorabilia, and did not contain explosives."
Earlier in the day, they said "Yesterday morning (Thursday 6 July) Greater Manchester Police executed a warrant at a property on Garswood Road, Fallowfield. Police recovered a number of offensive weapons and a suspected grenade.
"A 67 year old man has been arrested on suspicion of possession of offensive weapons. He remains in police custody for questioning.
"A scene remains in place and colleagues from NWAS, GMFRS and EOD are in attendance. As per standard procedure, a number of neighbouring properties have been evacuated as a safety precaution."
