Guard is threatened with machete in raid

MASKED MEN AMBUSH SECURITY VAN AT STORE IN BROAD DAYLIGHT

MASKED men armed with a machete ambushed a security guard in a ‘brazen’ robbery as he delivered cash to a supermarket in middle of the day.

The raid was the third cash-in-transit robbery in Greater Manchester in the last two weeks.

In the latest incident, two masked thieves armed with a machete targeted a van in Shaw, Oldham and ran off with several bags of coins.

Shortly after 2.10pm on Wednesday, police were called to reports of an armed robbery at Asda on Greenfield Lane.

Officers say the driver of the van was outside the store when one offender threatened him with the knife and demanded money.

The thief then fled with the cash in a green Ford Focus that was driven by a second offender down Eastway in the direction of Oldham.

The main robber was white, approximately 5ft 8in, slim and in his mid-twenties. He wore a blue tracksuit top and bottoms with a green hood.

The second man was white, wore a black jacket and black tracksuit bottoms with a white stripe at the top and a beige baseball cap.

Both suspects wore balaclavas to conceal their identity, and gloves.

Det Con Stuart Crossley of GMP’s Oldham borough, said: “This was a brazen attack that happened in broad daylight at one of the busiest times of the day.

“Fortunately, the victim wasn’t injured, but nobody should have to endure such a traumatic experience when they are just trying to do their job.

“We have launched an investigation and I would ask that anybody who thinks they may know something that can assist with our investigation to please contact police.

“If you recognise the descriptions of the men or think you saw them or the car in the area around the time of the attack then please get in touch.”

Anyone with information should call police on 101, quoting incident number 1089 of 20 September 2017, or the independent charity Crimestoppers, anonymously, on 0800 555 111.

Earlier this month robbers escaped with £100,000 from Santander bank in Walkden and £30,000 from the Royal Bank of Scotland in Mather Way, Pendleton, Salford, at the city’s shopping centre - police are investigating whether these incidents were linked but neither are thought to be connected to Wednesday’s robbery.