Caught on CCTV, the brazen teenage girls brandishing guns in a city centre

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It may look like a scene from a gritty television drama, but these shocking images were filmed by a shopkeeper appalled at the mindless antics of the pair.

Police said their behaviour, revealed only days after the fatal shooting of 11-year-old Rhys Jones in Liverpool, was grossly irresponsible and could have put them at risk of being shot by armed officers.

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The girls even took aim at the security camera

They were drinking what looked like vodka

The duo were in a street in the centre of Manchester in daylight when they pulled the handguns - thought to be realistic-looking replicas - out of a carrier bag and began waving them around.

Spotting that they were being filmed, both girls are seen cocking the weapons and pointing them at the camera.

Shopkeeper David Arathoon pointed his CCTV camera at them after passers-by expressed disgust at their behaviour.

"I couldn't believe it," he said. "They were openly brandishing the guns and appeared to be pointing them at shoppers as they walked past.

"They didn't look more than 16. If they had a brother like the lad who was shot in Liverpool I don't think they would think it so funny."

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The girls looked to be aged about 16

Detectives in Manchester have circulated the footage, taken about a week before Rhys's killing, in the hope of identifying the girls.

Detective Chief Superintendent Dave Keller said the pair had put themselves at risk.

"In this type of situation the standard response would be to deploy armed officers," he said.

"It wouldn't matter whether the gun was real or a replica, if it was pointed at a police officer it would be treated as a real gun."

By having imitation firearms in a public place, the girls were committing an offence under the newly-amended Firearms Act.