POLICE are looking for a gang at least seven strong after a teenage boy was shot three times while riding his bicycle through a Manchester park.

The unnamed 17-year-old, who was with two friends, was cycling through Longford Park in Stretford, Greater Manchester at 8.25pm on Friday when he was shot in the back, stomach and leg.

He underwent emergency surgery to remove the bullets at Manchester Royal Infirmary and doctors said last night he was in a “comfortable condition”.

Chief Superintendent Janette McCormick of Greater Manchester police said the shooting could be related to gang rivalry.

She said seven or eight members of a gang, dressed in balaclavas and dark clothing, were lying in wait and attacked the three youths as they cycled through a wooded area between a children’s farmyard and an athletics stadium. It is unclear whether the injured boy was the target.

Police say a handgun was used in the attack and that the two friends cycled to get help after the victim had been shot. “The public have to trust us and keep coming forward and help bring these people before the courts,” said McCormick, adding that the teenager’s friends had provided little information.

Officers will try to piece events together using CCTV footage. Although there was no official confirmation, police sources indicated the youth may be a member of a rival gang.

There have been previous shootings in Stretford — close to Old Trafford football ground — but police believe this to be an isolated incident in an area more prone to burglaries than gun crime. However, it lies only a couple of miles from Moss Side, and occasionally gangland violence spills across.

The shooting comes only months after a 15-year-old boy was shot dead in similar circumstances in Moss Side.

Jessie James was killed as he cycled with friends through Broadfield Park in September.

Barbara Reid, his mother, subsequently urged the local community to take action against gun crime. This latest shooting is not thought to be linked to the James case.

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