TWO men being hunted by police in connection with a double shooting have handed themselves in.

A 26-year-old from the Derwentside area went to Stanley police station, in County Durham, with his solicitor late yesterday morning.

He was taken into custody and questioned by detectives investigating the shooting of two men in the South Moor area of Stanley, County Durham, on Bank Holiday Monday night.

Late yesterday afternoon, a 20-year-old man, also from Derwentside, visited Stanley police station to hand himself in. Both men have been arrested while officers investigate the shooting, in which two men in their 20s were seriously injured.

Police said one of the two men injured in the incident has also been arrested after he discharged himself from hospital.

He visited the University Hospital of North Durham, in Durham City, suffering gunshot wounds to the arm two hours after initial calls were made to police about the incident.

The man, in his 20s and from the Stanley area, underwent an operation on Tuesday before he discharged himself.

Police said he was arrested on suspicion of violent disorder and was yesterday in custody.

The other injured man, from the Stanley area, remains in the University Hospital of North Durham, where his condition was said to be improving.

Paramedics responding to a 999 call shortly after 10pm on Monday found him with injuries to his groin area in Lime Street, South Moor.

Detective Superintendent Ken Donnelly, who is leading the investigation, said the people believed to be involved in the incident appeared to know each other and that the public were not in danger.

He said: “I can easily understand concerns when there is a shooting in the street, but this is an isolated incident involving people who are wellknown to police.

“The reasons for the shooting are not quite clear, as yet, but I am confident people living in the Stanley and South Moor areas are not at risk of such violence.”

Det Supt Donnelly would still like to hear from anyone who knows anything about the incident.

They are asked to call police on 0345-60-60-365 or Crimestoppers on 0800-555-111.