SEVEN people, including two men from Oldham, have appeared before Blackburn magistrates charged in connection with what the prosecution described as a drugs-related shootout on the streets of Burnley in February.

The court was told yesterday an estimated yield of £220,000 was at the centre of the dispute between rival gangs.

One man was shot in the leg and bullet holes were found in a door.

Two cars which had been driven from Manchester earlier in the day were also set on fire, according to prosecutors.

Rebecca McAuley-Anderson, prosecuting, said on the night a group of Burnley offenders were intent on taking cannabis from the house on Salus Street, Burnley.

A number of Albanian nationals travelled from the Cheetham Hill area of Manchester in three cars and there was a “shootout” in Salus Street.

Ibrahim Beldie, 31, of Hollins Road, Oldham, Andon Bita, 46, of Ellen Wilkinson Crescent, Manchester, Elion Gllava, 25, of Hartley Avenue, Prestwich, were all charged with conspiring to cause grievous bodily harm, conspiring to possess a firearm with intent to endanger life and conspiring to supply cannabis.

Mazar Shah, 39, of Alms Hill Road, Manchester, and Gulam Rauf , 28, of Hartley Avenue, Prestwich, were charged with assisting an offender to avoid detention, committing an act with the intent of perverting the course of justice and arson.

Murtaza Ahmed,37 of Brierfield, and Andrea Zekaqis , 30, of Acacia Road, Oldham, were charged with conspiring to supply cannabis.

All seven were remanded in custody until a hearing at Burnley Crown Court where they are due appear before the court on August 12.

The charges follow dawn raids across Greater Manchester earlier this week during which the seven men were arrested from several properties.