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Terrified shoppers watched as an armed officer held a gun over the head of a 15-year-old boy in a Manchester high street.

This dramatic picture shows the officer standing over the boy with the semi-automatic rifle outside a Greggs bakery in Wythenshawe which was the scene of riots just four days earlier.

At least a dozen police officers swarmed the area and searched a group of boys aged between 11 and 15 after someone reported seeing two young men pass a weapon between them.

Zero tolerance: The armed officer holds a gun over the head of a 15-year-boy following rioting in Manchester

Three armed officers were among the group with one of the men making a boy lie on the ground while holding the rifle over his head.

Each of the boys had their names and addresses taken and police tore open one of their rucksacks which appeared to contain boxes of smarties and food from Greggs.

One of the boys was arrested and led away while the others were let free.

The officers stand around after drawing a gun on one of the youths

'Tensions have been high since we had the trouble with the rioters. As soon as armed police arrived we though another riot was going to break out but the police managed to keep it under control,' one witness told The People.

'We have heard a lot about police getting tough in the wake of the riots and this lot were zero tolerance, simple as that,' he said.

A police spokesman for Greater Manchester police said that two men were detained and a weapon, which turned out to be a BB gun, was recovered. Both men are still in police custody.

The spokesman at first denied that a gun had been drawn on the boy but later admitted that the officer was entitled to point his gun at a suspect if he felt the threat level was sufficient.

It is believed the second arrest was an adult picked up in a different location but related to the same incident.

At war: Prime Minister David Cameron has clashed with acting head of the Metropolitan police Tim Godwin

The scene came as the acting head of the Metropolitan Police clashed with Prime Minister David Cameron over a suggestion that the army could be deployed to stop rioting in London.

Tim Godwin told Mr Cameron he would agree to troops on the streets of the UK capital only after all of his officers and borough commanders are standing on the front line.

The pair also rowed over the suggestion that Mr Cameron was due to bring in U.S 'Supercop' Bill Bratton as an adviser to help him introduce a tougher approach to street crime.