Raided barbershop visited by Salman Abedi 'shut down day after bombing'

Police have raided businesses and homes as they race to shut down Salman Abedi's suspected terror network.

Amid fears there could be more bombs, officers swooped on properties, including a barbershop said to have been visited regularly by Abedi, which shut down in the immediate aftermath of the attack.

It is understood that an armed response unit arrived at the Fade Away shop in Manchester's Moss Side in the early hours of Friday and the shutter was cut open at around 5.15am.

Items including a laptop were seen in evidence bags taken away by police.

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Byron Gibbs, who owns a hardware store next door, said the bomber appeared to know the owners.

He told Sky News: "He used to be there regularly. One of them (the owners) came there on Tuesday, but he didn't come to the door, he just stopped at the bus stop for a long time and then jumped back over the fence.

"It hasn't been open since Tuesday."

Mr Gibbs said the closure seemed strange because the shop is usually open seven days a week.

Almost simultaneously, officers raided a pizza shop in St Helens, Merseyside, which had been rented by two men believed to be of Libyan descent.

The owner of the premises, Asit Chowdhury, told Sky News tablet computers, a router and post were taken by investigators.

He said: "They (police) said it was something to do with the bombings in Manchester - that's the link. I wondered why because the guys renting it just seemed like normal guys."

According to the Guardian, one of the men who ran the pizza shop may have rented a property in Manchester to Salman Abedi before he went to Libya in the weeks before the attack.

Three raids have been taking place in Moss Side, while searches have reportedly continued at a flat in Manchester city centre, where police believe Abedi may have mixed chemicals for his bomb.

A witness to a raid on a terraced house in Moss Side said she saw around 20 armed police at the address in the early hours of Friday. "They had two or three guys on the floor," she said.

Greater Manchester Police said eight suspects aged between 18 and 38 remain in custody in connection with the bombing.

Ten people were detained between Tuesday and Friday. All were held "on suspicion of offences contrary to the Terrorism Act".

A 16-year-old boy arrested in the Withington area of Manchester on Thursday, and a 34-year-old woman arrested In Blackley on Wednesday, have been released without charge.

Meanwhile armed police have been patrolling trains for the first time and NHS staff at major trauma centres have been warned to prepare for a potential terror attack over the bank holiday weekend.

Extra armed police will guard major sporting events, including the FA Cup final at Wembley, and popular tourist attractions.

Speaking after chairing a meeting of the Government's emergency Cobra committee, Home Secretary Amber Rudd said the Joint Terrorism Analysis Centre had decided the terror threat level should remain at critical while the "live" police operation continues.

The rating was raised to critical, the highest level, for the first time in a decade in the wake of the Manchester outrage. It indicates that an attack is expected imminently.

:: Watch a special programme on the Manchester attack on Sky News at 8.30pm on Friday.