POLICE have been searching a pizzeria in St Helens in connection with Monday's attack at the Manchester Arena.

Officers from Counter Terrorism Policing North West and Merseyside Police concluded their search this morning (Friday, May 26) at the address.

Police would not confirm the location, however, a large police presence was at the Lorenzo Pizza takeaway on Corporation Street which is opposite the St Helens Courthouse.

St Helens Star:

Police search the takeaway on Corporation Street

The search concluded shortly before 8am.

Merseyside Police would not confirm why police were on Corporation Street.

The owner of the premises has told the Star he was shocked to receive a call from the police saying they were searching his building.

St Helens Star:

Lorenzo Pizza takeaway on Corporation Street

Steve Chowdhury said the phone rang early this morning and police informed him they were looking for leaseholders of his building - which houses the pizzeria and vacant flats upstairs - in connection with the Manchester bomb attack.

He said: "I can't believe it, I'm shocked. I was phoned at about 8am asking if I owned the shop and if I knew the leaseholders.

"At 5am the police had come into the shop. They said it was related to the Manchester bombing investigation.”

Steve and wife Susan, who also run Balti Spice in Duke Street, last year lost one of their four children, Sheila, to cancer.

He said: "I have never suspected anything out of the ordinary was going on.

"I lost a daughter myself last year and I couldn't believe how brilliant the people of St Helens were. Like everyone else, I was devastated to hear of the Manchester bombing."


The action in St Helens is part of an ongoing investigation by Counter Terrorism Policing North West, supported by Merseyside Police.

Police said this phase of the operation is still in its infancy and added there is currently "no specific threat" to Merseyside.

St Helens Star:

Superintendent Louise Harrison, St Helens area commander, 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.”

An earlier statement from Greater Manchester Police read: "This morning we have been carrying out an address in St Helens, Merseyside.

"These searches are connected to Monday's attack on the Manchester Arena, but this is a fast-moving investigation and we are keeping an open mind at this stage.

"As it stands ten people in total have been arrested in connection with the investigation, of which a man and a woman have been released without charge.

"Eight men remain in custody for questioning."

Tonight policed chiefs said detectives have made "immense" progress in the investigation into the Manchester bombing , Britain's top counter-terror officer has said.

Assistant Commissioner Mark Rowley said police have made "significant" arrests and "finds" and have got hold of a "large part" of the suspected network being sought over the atrocity.

The senior officer also issued a defiant message as he urged people to go about their business as normal over the bank holiday weekend.

"Enjoy yourselves and be reassured by the greater policing presence you will see," he said."We can't let the terrorists win by dissuading us from going about our normal business."

A huge security operation is planned with 1,100 armed officers on hand to protect major spectacles around the country, including the FA Cup Final at Wembley and the Great Manchester Run.

It was revealed that specialist teams have carried out a review of security for more than 1,300 events with Britain remaining at the highest threat level of critical while the investigation into the bombing continues.

Twenty-two victims including children were killed when Salman Abedi, 22, launched a suicide attack at an Ariana Grande concert at Manchester Arena on Monday night.

It was the worst terrorist atrocity to hit Britain since the July 7 attacks in London in 2005 and sparked a huge counter-terror probe.

Since Tuesday a total of 10 people have been arrested, with eight men aged between 18 and 38 remaining in custody. Two of those held, a 16-year-old boy and a woman aged 34, have been released without charge.

On Friday evening officers were still carrying out searches at 12 locations, with activity expected to continue throughout the weekend.
Providing an update on the probe, Mr Rowley said it was likely further arrests would follow.

"Having made enormous progress and made some significant arrests and had some significant finds, there still remain important lines of inquiry for us to pursue.

"We've got to try to understand everything we can about the dead terrorist, his associates. We need to understand the whole network and how they acquired and built the bomb that exploded on Monday night.

"It's going to take a little more time to close down those gaps in our understanding. We are working as fast as we can do because everyone wants answers to this."

He said police now have a "much better understanding" with a "lot of the risk contained". However, some uncertainty remains.

Mr Rowley said: "We need to grow our confidence that we have got every component of the network and we have got as full an understanding as possible about how the device was constructed and whether there's any remaining risk.

"Clearly we haven't covered all the territory we want to but we have covered a large part of it.

"Our confidence has been increasing over recent days but there's still more to do to get to the degree of confidence we want."

Mr Rowley outlined a number of strands of the investigation into the attack:
:: Finances - Officers are mounting a large-scale financial investigation, with Mr Rowley saying: "We are interested in equipment people have bought bearing in mind a bomb was constructed."
:: Communications - Police are looking back at communications and working closely with technology firms.
:: Exhibits - Investigators have seized large volumes of material during searches of a number of properties and expect to amass hundreds of electronic devices.
:: CCTV - Police are trawling through footage on local cameras to establish movements and patterns of activity in the lead up to the attack.
:: Witnesses - Officers are working to "triage" hundreds of statements from those caught up in the bombing.
:: International inquiries - Detectives are probing links to Libya as well as liaising with counterparts across Europe and elsewhere.

Meanwhile, further details about the scale of a wider terror threat emerged as figures indicated as many as 23,000 people have appeared on the radar of counter-terror agencies.

Authorities are handling 500 investigations into 3,000 individuals currently, while it was disclosed on Friday that around 20,000 people are considered former "subjects of interest".
ends

Prime Minister Theresa May denied that it was her government's 20,000 reduction in police numbers that had made it necessary to put troops on to the streets in the wake of the Manchester bombing.

Asked at a press conference at the G7 summit in Sicily whether she bore responsibility for denying police the resources they needed to do their jobs, Mrs May said: "No. The plan to ensure that there was military support available to the police is a well-prepared plan, it's one that was developed a while ago.

'It was done so that at a time when we got to 'critical' in our threat level - which of course is determined independently by the Joint Terrorism Analysis Centre - extra support could be made available. And that is exactly what has happened."

If anyone has any information they are urged to contact the anti-terrorist hotline on 0800 789321 or to discuss any concerns can contact police on 101.