A MAN was spotted swinging an axe in Radcliffe in scenes one father likened to a 'turf war'.

Christopher Shenton, aged 34, was near the library when he drove past a man swinging an axe and another wielding a baseball bat, both shouting at each other.

Shortly afterwards Mr Shenton witnessed two cars, a grey Volkswagen and a silver Audi trying to run each other off the road.

Mr Shenton, who lives in Tottington said: "You see these turf wars on TV, it was like that.

"I had my two daughters in the back, my eldest was scared he was going to come through the window with the axe, I was saying, 'it's okay, he's not going to come for us, we have just driven past'."

Mr Shenton described how the man wielding the axe was just inches from their car in Milltown Street on Friday night.

He said: "He was walking past my car, he walked right past the back of the car, my eldest can describe what he was wearing and how big the axe was.

"It was just over a metre long."

Mr Shenton was in Milltown Street, near the library when he saw one man swinging an axe around before another man with a baseball bat appeared in the same street.

The two men shouted at each other and as Mr Shenton drove along he spotted a silver Audi Q3 parked in the middle of the road.

He said: "The man with the axe was trying to swing for anything, the driver of the Audi, the car as well. He was just swinging and screaming."

Mr Shenton then saw the Audi speed away followed by a grey Volkswagen people carrier.

He said: "They were trying to run each other off the road, they sped off in different directions. They were out to cause damage to each other."

Mr Shenton pulled up near to the Lock Keeper in Mill Bank where he phoned 999 while he could still watch what was happened in Milltown Street.

He said he saw the Volkswagen return with a small white van and when the two vehicles left the people carrier was full.

Mr Shenton said: "I don't know if the lad who had the axe was in the people carrier but people need to know about it."

A spokesman for Greater Manchester Police said: "Shortly after 7.10pm on Friday, November 10, police received a report that a man had been spotted carrying an axe on Stand Lane, Radcliffe.

"The report also stated that two cars had been seen driving dangerously nearby.

"Anybody with information should contact police on 101, quoting incident number 1813 of 10/11/17, or the independent charity Crimestoppers, anonymously, on 0800 555 111."