A MAN is to be extradited back to East Lancashire after he was arrested in Ireland over a Blackburn gunshot murder plot.

The 23-year-old has now voluntarily agreed to return to the UK where he will be interviewed in connection with a shooting in an alleyway behind Accrington Road 13 months ago.

The man, from Timperley in Manchester, is being held by Irish police after an international arrest warrant on conspiracy to murder obtained by Lancashire Constabulary.

Officers will now travel to Dublin to escort him back to Blackburn police station for questioning.

Two men, Suheal Patel and his cousin Sameer Kanwadkar, escaped death by inches after a bullet was fired through the passenger side of the Fiat Punto they were sitting in.

The bullet passed through the boot and just missed them, police said.

Eight men have been charged in connection with the incident and are due to face trial in June on conspiracy to murder charges.