RIVAL gangs locked in an underworld dispute are behind the spate of firearm-fuelled violence that has rocked Farnworth and Little Hulton.

Senior police officers are urging the public to come forward to help them solve four shootings in and around Bolton at the weekend.

GMP's Assistant Chief Constable Rebekah Sutcliffe said: "We do believe three of these are connected and one is not.

"We believe they are linked because of the people involved.

"We believe that there are linked to an ongoing dispute between two rival organised crime groups, primarily from that [same] community.

"We think they are involved in a broad range of criminality.

"However, what is not clear is a motive for the dispute."

The wave of gun violence began just after midnight on Saturday when a 48-year-old man was hit in the back by a bullet that came through the window of a house in Mossbrook Street, Little Hulton.

Later that evening shots were fired at the windows of homes in Worsley Road, Farnworth, and Gorse Drive, Little Hulton - two streets away from Mossbrook Street - although no-one was injured. 

The assistant chief constable said the tussle between the two criminal enterprises had been going on for 12 months and has fuelled other flashpoints such as arguments breaking out and assaults.

She said a fourth shooting in Cannon Street, Deane, on Saturday afternoon, in which a 22-year-old man received a gunshot wound to the stomach - is not linked to the others and is being treated as a separate investigation.

The spate of shootings comes after a 34-year-old was shot in the torso three times on Monday last week at a home in Coniston Avenue, Little Hulton, just a mile away from the Mossbrook Street incident.

"It happened in the same area and we believe there are some links to the incidents over the weekend," she said.

"We have a complex and confusing picture.

"We are making these incidents our absolute priority."

The weapons and ammunition involved in the four shootings have not yet been identified and no arrests have yet been made.

Specialists from GMP's Major Incident Team and Serious Crime Division and from the National Crime Agency - the British equivalent to the FBI - are supplementing local detectives to probe all of the offences.

Extra patrols are being laid on to provide a greater reassuring presence in the neighbourhoods affected.

GMP's armed response unit will out and about in the Bolton and Salford divisions when not at other incident across the conurbation.

Bolton Council and Salford Council are assisting the police in supporting people who have received threats to their life.

Ass Chf Const Sutcliffe added: "We believe these are targeted attacks.

"The organised crime groups are operating in communities in Greater Manchester and we as much as anybody else are concerned about that.

"It's really important the communities do help us understand what is happening and identify offenders."

The men injured in the separate shootings are in a stable condition.

Residents are questioning whether the flurry of firearm attacks is part of a fallout of the murder of Salford's Mr Big, Paul Massey, in Clifton in July.

Ass Chf Const Sutcliffe said: "We can't be absolute definite but we don't believe that it is."

Anyone with information should call police on 0161 856 5470, 101, or the independent charity Crimestoppers on 0800 555 111.