POLICE divers searched a Bolton river for firearms in the same spot where a bag of guns was fished out two weeks beforehand.

Two lorries belonging to North West Regional Underwater Search and Marine Unit were parked up opposite Ringley Bridge in Kearsley Hall Road, Ringley, next to the La Roma Restaurant, today.

They arrived at about 10am and one left an hour and a half later.

Neighbours and staff at La Roma Restaurant were left in the dark because unit officers remain tight-lipped about their presence and their activities.

But The Bolton News can reveal officers had returned to sweep the River Irwell as part of a training exercise on the back of an eyebrow-raising discovery.

A Greater Manchester Police spokesman said: "On January 13 a bag was found in the River Irwell in Ringley with firearms in it that had been in the water for some time.

"We decided to send out the unit to conduct a training exercise to ensure we are up to scratch.

"They were doing a thorough search of that stretch of the river and there were no further weapons found."

It is not known whether the North West Regional Underwater Search and Marine Unit were involved in fishing the bag of guns out of the water a fortnight ago or if they were retrieved by ordinary officers or a member of the public.