Ariana Grande Manchester concert attack: Seventh arrest made

Police stand outside a block of flats in Blackley, north Manchester. Photo / AP

A seventh person has been arrested in connection with the Manchester bombing after armed police swarmed a property in Nuneaton, Warwickshire.

Greater Manchester Police said: "We have been carrying out searching at an address in Nuneaton, Warwickshire, and arrested a man. These searches are connected to Monday's attack on the Manchester Arena."

Searches carried out in Nuneaton pic.twitter.com/MYzehrc1Jj

— Greater Manchester Police (@gmpolice) May 24, 2017

It brings the total arrests to six men and one woman, all of whom are in custody and being questioned by police, the Daily Mail reports.

Earlier a woman was arrested in connection with the Manchester bombing after armed police swarmed a block of flats in the north of the city.

Residents heard a "huge bang" as officers carrying firearms raided an address in Blackley.

Greater Manchester Police said: "A search was carried out and a woman has been arrested in connection with the investigation into the Manchester Arena incident."

Alex Finnie, 54, said armed police and "men who looked like soldiers" were involved in the swoop, which he believed was on the 12th floor.

He heard a noise which sounded like windows being blown out as police entered the flat.

He then saw a woman with dark hair and wearing a blue shirt with her hands cuffed behind her back and pressed up against a window.

He told the Press Association: "When the bang went I heard screaming and shouting and then they took the woman out.

"She was facing this way out the window and a couple of minutes later two armed police took her away.

"After the first one I heard loud banging on another door but on the same floor."

Searches carried out in Blackley pic.twitter.com/FwT02T4mgK

— Greater Manchester Police (@gmpolice) May 24, 2017

The woman was driven away in a police van, he said, adding that armed police were preventing residents from accessing the floor.

This follows a fifth arrest made after armed police had swooped on a street in Wigan.

The town centre was in lockdown as officers carrying automatic weapons carried out the raid.

Witnesses say a man was tackled to the ground in Upper Dicconson Street after he was seen with a suspicious package.

Statement - arrest in Wigan this afternoon in connection with the investigation pic.twitter.com/97AJbiMxiA

— Greater Manchester Police (@gmpolice) May 24, 2017

Photos shared on social media appear to show him being led away by plain clothes officers with their faces covered wearing black police caps.

Wigan Council warned people to avoid the area because of an "ongoing police incident".
A nearby nursery, Little Acorns, was put into lockdown and warned parents not to come to collect their children.

"We are currently on lock down due to an incident in the area," a statement on its Facebook page said.

"We are safe. All children are upstairs. Please DO NOT come for your children at little Acorns you will not get in."

Police activity at an address in Elsmore Road, in connection with the concert blast at the Manchester Arena. Photo / AP

An officer in a white forensic suit is examining a red bag which the suspect was carrying, according to one witness, who did not want to be named.

"There was a lot of officers coming in with a few cars from different directions," the restaurant owner said.

"They wrestled with a man on the floor and he had a red bag. Now there's a man in a white suit looking in the bag - he's taking something out of it.

"They've sealed the whole area off, put tape around the perimeter. My restaurant is in the middle of it and I can't open my front door.

"There were a lot of armed officers with their faces covered - with balaclavas and machine guns. They told us to get in, lock the windows and close the doors."

He said he has not seen the arrested man before, and added: "We've never had something like this happen here before - hopefully it's a one-off."

Soufiane Hamdadou, the owner of nearby restaurant Fat Olive, said he saw armed police on the street at about 3pm.

Women cry after placing flowers in a square in central Manchester. Photo / AP

He said: "I heard shouting and screaming and looked out of the window and saw a man getting wrestled down to the ground.

"It was undercover police and they were armed with balaclavas on. They circled the man and took him away.

"The man had a red bag and the police sealed off the whole area and moved the bag to the other side of the road. A man in a white forensics suit was looking at it and then I think they took the bag away."

Hamdadou said he was told to stay inside and only allowed to come out of the building again after 6.30pm.

Some residents reported seeing a bomb disposal unit on the scene.

Joanne McKnight, 46, said she returned to her home on Dicconson Street, off Upper Dicconson Street, just before 4pm and found it cordoned off.

She said: "The police escorted us back to the house and told us to stay inside until things started clearing."

The police cordon was removed at about 7pm.