A COUNCIL is to buy a pub where two men were shot dead during a botched assassination.

The Brass Handles in Salford has remained shut since the terrifying incident in March 2006, when two hitmen burst in and shot David Totton and Aaron Travers.

Both survived, but the gunmen — Richard Austin, 19, and Carlton Alveranga, 20 — were overpowered and shot dead with their own guns.

This month, police named Marcus Rico Callaghan, 25, as the man wanted in connection with the double killing.

He is believed to have returned to Britain after spending time in Spain following the shootings.

Now the council is finalising a deal to buy the pub in Fitzwarren Street, Pendleton.

But they will not say whether they intend to bulldoze it or do something else with the derelict building.

In May, Labour councillor John Warmisham called for it to be demolished.

He told the M.E.N: "It remains a macabre reminder of what went on there.

"I think it should be knocked down and the site earmarked for some community facility."

In 2007, the pub was auctioned for about £140,000. In July 2008 ,the council gave planning permission for millionaire Chek Whyte to convert the pub into a nursery, but the scheme fell through.

Mr Whyte got to know about the pub when he spent six weeks in Salford filming for Channel 4’s Secret Millionaire programme.

Peter Connor, the council’s housing spokesman, said: "We’re looking to purchase the former Brass Handles pub as part of our wider regeneration plans for Pendleton.

"However, at this stage we do not own it.

"We’re working very closely with potential bidders to redevelop the area as part of the Private Finance Initiative project and are in consultations with residents to ensure that any regeneration is right for the area and local people."

The M.E.N. has learned that the council’s strategic director for customer support services was instructed to complete the legal formalities earlier this month.

Bobby Speirs, 41, from Prestwich, was jailed for life and will spend at least 23 years behind bars for masterminding the bungled ‘hit’ at the pub.

Two other people were jailed at a previous hearing for the involvement in the assassination bid — Ian McLeod, of Manchester’s Doddington gang, and convicted gun-runner Constance Howarth.

McLeod recruited the two hitmen while Howarth acted as a 'spotter' in the pub, pointing out the intended victims.