AXE-WIELDING robbers stole £6,000 from the safe of a pub after striking just after it closed.

Three men smashed their way into the Cotton Kier Pub in The Valley leisure complex in Astley Bridge.

One man was armed with an axe and another with a large piece of wood.

They ordered the staff to the floor and frogmarched the manager of the pub to the safe upstairs.

He opened the safe and handed over £6,000 in takings.

They then escaped in a car which police later found abandoned in Union Road, Tonge Moor.

The men had smashed through a fire escape at the side of the building to get in at about 12.45am on Sunday, June 7, with the pub having closed at 11pm the previous night.

The men were all about 5ft 10in tall, of a medium build, and were wearing dark clothing and balaclavas.

No staff were hurt in the raid as all complied with the robbers request to lie on the floor, a police spokesman said.

Police have made no arrests so far.

Anyone with information should call police on 0161 8565761 or the independent charity, Crimestoppers, anonymously on 0800 555111.