A 17-year-old youth has been shot dead in the Longsight area of Manchester - the eighth fatal shooting in the city since July.

Police say the youth was shot in the street at about 2200 GMT on Wednesday, in what is feared to be a renewed outbreak of gangland-style violence.

Detective Superintendent Keith Jardine said there was a small group of young men in Manchester who had access to firearms and he said: "We have a group of young men who see the gun as part of their gun culture, as some sort of fashion accessory."

Reports of gunfire

The youth's body was discovered by police lying on a grass verge near the junction of Coverdale Crescent and Hyde Road after residents reported gunfire.

The incident is the second shooting in the area in a fortnight. Last week 34-year-old Roger Ormsby was found shot dead in a burning car in neighbouring Whalley Range.

Police are still investigating a series of shootings prior to Christmas which culminated in the death of one man in the early hours of Boxing Day.

Simon Brown, 27, was shot dead at a party in Manchester's Black Community Centre, Moss Side.

A Greater Manchester Police spokeswoman said: "At this stage we do not know if the shooting is linked to any of the others."