50 take to street in mass brawl

ONE man had a brick thrown at his head and another suffered a knife wound during a mass brawl in Chadderton on Sunday involving up to 50 people.

Officers were called to Bamford Street at around 7pm on Sunday where they found up to 50 people fighting — some with weapons.

Police have confirmed that one witness says 50 people were on the street and some were banging on his door.

A GMP spokesperson said: “He went outside and was pushed before one person threw a brick hitting him at the back of the head. He went back inside and went to Oldham hospital for assessment.

“A second victim reported a cut to the chest from a knife although both are okay.”

A witness told the Chronicle: “It was approximately 4.45pm when my daughter told me there was lots of shouting outside.

“It looked like there were two sides arguing, it seemed to be younger people arguing then fists started flying, people were trying to smash heads into cars while the whole mob moved en masse down the length of Westfield Street to Burnley Lane.

“As soon as the police turned up everyone scattered. It then flared up again around 7pm. This time it was more organised, people had long poles and bricks were being thrown.

“It’s no exaggeration to say that it looked like a riot, people were turning up in cars, there must easily have been 30 to 50 people including women and men. Most of the later event happened next to the mosque at the junction of Bamford Street and Garforth Street.”

On Twitter a spokesman for the Oldham East division said that two arrests have been made and reported assaults are under investigation.

Three vehicles were damaged.

The police said in a series of Twitter updates: “Police witnessed a large crowd of people numbering in the region of 50. Some fighting with weapons was witnessed by police.

“The investigation is in it’s early stages and the Oldham Central Team is appealing for anyone with information in relation to these or other crimes to come forward.

“The incident is current being investigated by the Oldham Central CID.” Additional police and Oldham Council resources have been deployed to the area.

Anyone with information should call police on 101.