A suspected firearm was recovered after two men were spotted throwing a number of items into an area of woodland.
Merseyside Police has confirmed a man has been arrested and officers have recovered a suspected gun from a patch of woodland in Rice Lane Recreation Park. A spokesperson for the force told the ECHO two men were spotted "acting suspiciously" at around 9pm last night, Wednesday, April 19.
The two men appeared to discard a number of items, leading officers to find a suspected firearm next to a tree. The weapon has been forensically recovered to establish if it is a viable weapon.
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A 32-year-old man from Liverpool was arrested nearby on suspicion of possession of a firearm without a certificate and theft of a motor vehicle. He remains in police custody.
Today a considerable police presence remained in the park. A section of the park was cordoned off and forensic officers were seen removing bags of evidence from the area of woodland.
Merseyside Police Detective Sergeant Claire Astbury said: "Our streets are made safer with every weapon we take out of circulation and every arrest we make in relation to firearms. I am delighted that we were able to recover this weapon and prevent it from causing fear and harm in our communities.
"We are committed to taking weapons off our streets and, rest assured, if you tell us about any suspected possession or offences we will take action and put those responsible before the courts. Merseyside Police pro-actively investigates serious organised crime including the use of guns and the supply and distribution of drugs on Merseyside and is relentless in its pursuit of offenders.
"We will always take immediate action to incidents involving guns and we are actively working to make Merseyside a safer place to live and work. Information from the public is vital if we are to breakdown the organised crime groups who bring misery to our streets.
"It is vital that members of our communities come forward with information so we can make our communities safer for the decent, law abiding people who live in areas affected by gun crime."
If you have any information about the suspected storage, possession and use of firearms and ammunition, please contact us directly via @MerPolCC on Twitter, 'Merseyside Police Contact Centre' on Facebook, by calling 101 or the independent charity Crimestoppers anonymously on 0800 555 111 or report online at https://crimestoppers-uk.org/give-information/forms/give-information-anonymously. Always call 999 if a crime is in progress.
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