Sword men in cash raid on petrol station

10:45am Thursday 26th July 2007

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MASKED men armed with samurai swords stole hundreds of pounds in cash during a late-night raid on a petrol station.

A 64-year-old man was working alone at the Mercury Filling Station on the A6 Manchester Road, Westhoughton, when the pair burst in.

The terrified cashier locked himself in a store-room when he saw the men approaching and they smashed open a till drawer before stealing between £800 and £900. There were no customers in the garage at the time.

The men are believed to have made off on foot, but may have had a getaway car parked nearby following the robbery at 11.55pm on Tuesday.

Owner Maqsud Patel said said: "They came in and one of them went for my employee, grabbed him and demanded money but he managed to lock himself in the storeroom."

CCTV footage from the petrol station kiosk is due to be examined by detectives, who have made an appeal for information.

Det Con Phil McArdle, of Bolton CID said: "This man was left understandably shaken by what was a nasty robbery. He did the right thing to get well out of their way and let them get on with it.

"Although no car was seen, we are presuming that is how they made their getaway.

"We are appealing for witnesses who saw anything suspicious in the area at around that time to get in touch with us."

The men are described as wearing dark clothing and both had balaclavas covering their faces.

Anybody with information is asked to contact police on 0161 856 5740 or Crimestoppers anonymously on 0800 555 111.