TWO women and young children were forced to hide in an upstairs room after a dozen masked men carrying weapons forced their way into a house.

Several arrests have now been made in what the police have described as an incident relating to an ‘on-going’ feud between two groups.

A video uploaded to social media on Tuesday evening shows the moment the gang - some carrying machetes and axes - jumped out of several vehicles on Tanpits Road in Church before they smashed up two cars parked outside a large home.

The gang then forced their way inside the property where they began to smash up the living room, breaking the television set and causing damage to ornaments, doors and walls.

The footage then shows them leaving the house and filing back out into the street where they jump into waiting cars.

It is not believed that anyone was injured during the attack.

Two men aged 35 and 27 from Bolton and a 26-year-old man from Trowbridge were arrested on suspicion of aggravated burglary shortly afterwards. They have been released under investigation pending further enquiries.

Officers are now keen to trace a blue Seat, a white Ford Transit van, green Mitsubishi Shogun, grey Volkswagen Passat, a dark BMW 3 Series and a silver Volkswagen estate with a roof rack, as part of the investigation.

Det Sgt Steve Munro, of Lancashire Police, said: “Our information suggests this was a targeted attack in an on-going dispute between two groups known to each other.

"A video of the incident is circulating on social media and while the footage is both shocking and very worrying, I would stress incidents of this nature are rare and high visibility patrols have been increased in the area.”

Anyone with information can contact police on 101 quoting log 0714 of October 13.