Chief Inspector Gillian Kearns said: “I would appeal to anyone who may have witnessed the incident, or has any information which could help us with our inquiries to come forward. I would also like to appeal to anyone who works in the area, who has CCTV footage that may have captured the incident to get in touch.

“I would like to reassure anyone who works or lives in the area that our officers immediately respond to incidents such as these involving guns and are actively working to make Merseyside a safer place to live and work.

“We are relentless in our pursuit of such offenders who carry dangerous weapons in our community and urge anyone who has any information to contact us so we can find those responsible.”

Merseyside Police has confirmed shots were fired inside a café on Lodge Lane this afternoon.

It said armed police were called to the premises at around 5pm following reports of several gunshots heard at the address.

Thankfully, no-one was injured during the incident.

A number of witnesses have said that shots were fired on the street this afternoon.

These reports are unconfirmed at this time.

Merseyside Police have cordoned off a section of Lodge Lane in the Toxteth area of the city on Friday afternoon (June 19) due to a "police incident."

Lodge Lane is currently closed in both directions between Lime Grove and Bentley Road, with a number of officers in attendance.