London, Mar.17 (ANI): Armed police in Greater Manchester were forced to break up a cricket match after the sound of the ball hitting a shutter was mistaken for gunshots by a passer- by.
The workers at the Power Star sports equipment factory on Demmings Road Industrial Estate had been watching England play a World Cup 2011 match and had decided to recreate it after finishing work.
Fielder Muhammed Shahzad (27) and batsmen Muhammed Ijaz(25), were surprised when their game was interrupted by armed police as they had not realised that the sound of the ball hitting the shutter sounded like gunfire to a passer-by, who had complained to the police.
But the armed officers who rushed to the scene quickly realised that it was a false alarm as the two were only armed with a bat and a ball.
Worker Mohammed Ijaz, 25, said: " We were just messing around and could hear shouting saying Come out! Come out! At first we carried on as we didn't realise it was to do with us."
" But when we realised it was, we headed outside and as soon as we opened the door we could see lots of armed police. It was a bit of a shock but they were just doing their job, " he added.
Chief Superintendent of police Rebekah Sutcliffe said: "All reports of gunshots are taken very seriously and because of the potential threat to people's lives we have to take swift and appropriate action to deal with these very serious risks."
"Specially-trained firearms officers are always deployed because they have the necessary skills to be able to deal with these threats safely and minimize risks to the public," she added.
However, as soon as it became clear that there was no threat and the two workers were harmless, the officers quickly left the scene. (ANI)
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