Rising gun violence in Britain is being fuelled by online shopping as gangs smuggle weapons hidden among legitimate parcels, the National Crime Agency (NCA) has warned.

Amid warnings of increased violence on the streets, a yearly assessment of serious organised crime in Britain has found that firearm offences have increased by almost a third and along with an increase in the number of illegal guns being discharged, suggesting a "fluid illicit supply" of weapons.

At the same time, the NCA warned that a surge in the number of parcels arriving into the UK is being exploited by gangs who are "concealing illicit goods amongst legitimate traffic".

As well as smuggling drugs through the postal system, it remains a "a significant mode of transport for the importation of single firearms", the report says, adding: "Firearms importations into the UK via fast parcels and post are facilitated almost exclusively by online purchases."

The report came just hours after two men, one in his late 20s and the other in his early 30s, were left seriously injured in a shooting in a Birmingham car park.