TWO guns have been recovered by police after they raided a Bury house as part of a national crackdown on illegal weapons being sold over the Internet.

It was one of 15 addresses across Greater Manchester searched on Wednesday. A blank firing gun and stun gun were seized from the property, whose location has not been revealed, and investigations are currently ongoing into the owner of the firearms.

Operation Bembridge was set up to detect and disrupt the supply chain of illegal weapons that have been bought over the Internet.

It resulted in a whole range of items being recovered, from blank firers that can easily be converted to fire live ammunition to stun guns, hand guns and explosives.

As well as Bury, raids were carried out on houses in Bolton, Middleton, Wigan, Oldham, Stockport, Tameside, Whalley Range and Wythenshawe. A total of nine people were cautioned and two other individuals were still being questioned.

Deputy Chief Constable of Greater Manchester Police, Alan Green, said: "We hope that this is a warning to people that we are monitoring the Internet and are capable of identifying individuals buying these items.

"If found in possession, they will be charged, arrested and convicted."

The operation was led by the Criminal Intelligence Service with close co-operation from HM Customs and Excise.