A man has broken his arm after flinging himself out of a coffee shop's first-floor window, mistaking students shouting and banging trays for a terrorist attack.

Other customers in Costa Coffee in Didsbury village near Manchester, also flew into a panic after the disturbance on Wednesday.

Witnesses said the man climbed out of one of the front windows head-first before running to a bank to call for help.

One woman told the Manchester Evening News: "At first I thought it was just someone messing about, but then I heard some massive bangs.

"It sounded like shots were being fired. It was not just me who thought that. Other people were running around trying to get out on to the balcony but the door was locked.

"I think that’s why the man went for one of the front windows. When I looked round I could only see his feet hanging from the window."

She added: "Someone came up and said it had been a group of students messing about."

Greater Manchester Police confirmed that they had been called to reports of a disturbance at 3.50pm and said a man was taken to hospital with a suspected broken arm via ambulance.