A MAN armed with a hammer and wheel brace in Spinning Gate has been arrested after being stopped by brave members of the public.

Shortly after 2.30pm yesterday Saturday, January 11, police were called to reports of an armed robbery at Ladbrokes on Spinning Gate.

Three members of the public were walking past when they saw a man armed with a hammer and a wheel brace making threats inside.

They bravely intervened as he tried to flee with a quantity of stolen cash and detained him. One member of the public suffered minor injuries.

A 34-year-old man was arrested on suspicion of robbery. He remains in custody for questioning.

Enquiries are ongoing.

Detective Inspector John Davies, of GMP’s Wigan district, said: “I would like to commend the brave actions of the passers-by who intervened to prevent the robbery – thankfully there were no serious injuries but clearly given the weapons involved, this could have had much worse consequences.

“Due to additional patrols in the area, we were able to respond to this incident very quickly.

“A man remains in custody today and will be questioned by our team of detectives but we know a number of people witnessed this incident so I would encourage anyone with information to contact us.”

Anyone with information should call police on 0161 856 5307 or 101 quoting incident number 1678 of 11/01/2020, or the independent charity Crimestoppers, anonymously, on 0800 555 111.