COVENTRY MESSAGE BOARD

Officers investigating "terrifying" violence have arrested three people, including a 14-year-old boy

One man was reported to be carrying a large blade during disorder outside Asda on Newtown Road in Nuneaton at about 17:00 BST on Friday.

An 18-year-old man from Bedworth was arrested in the early hours of Sunday on suspicion of violent disorder.

The 14-year-old from Coventry and a man, 18, from Bulkington, arrested on Saturday, have been released on bail.

Det Sgt Emma Mackay from Warwickshire Police said: "This was a terrifying incident in broad daylight that left members of the public shocked."

The force said extra officers had been in the area over the weekend to help prevent any further trouble.

It has released images of five people officers would like to speak to in relation to the incident.




Det Ch Insp Dave Andrews said the level of disorder in the town over the past week had been "totally unacceptable" adding the force understood the level of concern amongst local people.

Earlier in the week two 15-year-old boys were arrested after teenage girls were threatened with blades in a spate of linked robberies.

They have been bailed until next month pending further inquiries.

Top cop warns rival gangs behind surge in violence in Nuneaton and Bedworth they will be stopped



Rival gangs behind a spate of machete violence in Nuneaton 'will be stopped' say police. Inspector Dave Williams, who is in charge of Nuneaton and Bedworth's Safer Neighbourhood Teams, admitted a feud between rival gangs in Nuneaton and Bedworth has come to the fore over the past two weeks with several serious machete incidents.

But the inspector warned gang members to be on their guard with a sting codenamed 'Operation Panoor' aiming to disrupt their actions. Officers will be out in 'hotspot areas' to stop and search anyone suspected to be involved in the trouble.

"We know about the potential violence and we need to stop that," Insp Williams said. "We are going to target the people that we are aware of.

"We are going to be going to the hotspot areas where we know offences have happened and we are going to stop and search people. We are going to arrest people if we are able to.

"The bottom line is that type of behaviour in Nuneaton is clearly unacceptable and has, without doubt, left victims traumatised. We won't stop until this problem is solved."

"We are going to be out in numbers over the coming weeks," he said. "We have got good intelligence. Also, because the offences have happened, we now have reasonable suspicion to stop and search people - and we will."