Armed raiders rob social club

Police jacket

RAIDERS armed with knives punched a man and threatened a worker before making off with the contents of a social club's safe.

The incident at the Astwood Bank Club in Dark Lane happened shortly before 11.40pm on Sunday (November 4). The club had closed for the evening when two men, both wearing woolly hats and scarves across their faces, burst in through a side door.

A man in his 50s was left with cuts and bruising after being punched by the raiders, who demanded money and made threats.

After a member of staff handed over the keys to a safe, she and the man - who was a member of the club - were locked into a store cupboard. They broke out of the cupboard and raised the alarm soon after the robbers left with a large amount of cash.

One of the raiders was white, around 5ft 8in and of medium build. He was wearing a black beanie-style hat, a black scarf and a green army-style camouflage jacket and spoke with an Irish accent.

The other man was of similar height and built and possibly black, also wearing a dark woolly hat and scarf.

Det Con Dave Jennings said: "The robbers were quite prepared to use violence to get what they wanted and this was a nasty incident. Fortunately, however, neither of the people at the club were badly hurt.

"It happened in quite an isolated spot and there would not have been many people around at that time. It's possible, therefore, that the robbers or any car they were using might have been more noticeable.

We need anyone with information to come forward to help us catch these men as soon as possible."

Anyone with any information should call Det Con Jennings on 101, quoting incident number 561-S-041112, or Crimestoppers on 0800 555 111.

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