POLICE have released a CCTV still of one of the offenders a week after a substantial amount of cash was stolen during an armed robbery at a bank in Eccles.

Officers are re-appealing for information and will also be doing house-to-house inquiries tonight (February 7), in the area where the car used in the robbery was abandoned, and the offenders got into another vehicle.

At about 4.55pm on Thursday, January 31, two masked men threw a drain grid through the locked front door of HSBC on Church Street as security staff were inside refilling the ATM machines.

The offenders then went into the bank armed with a baseball bat and sledgehammer and threatened staff while demanding cash.

The two men removed the cash from ATM machines before leaving the bank and getting into a silver Volkswagen Golf TDI, which was parked outside the Duke of York Pub opposite the bank.

It is believed that there were one or two people waiting in the car, which drove off and was found burnt out on Alma Street a short time later.

Boardman Street

The offenders are then believed to have got into a white van parked on Boardman Street.

No one was hurt during the incident but the staff were left extremely shaken.

Detective Sergeant Simon Akker from Swinton CID said: "We are hoping to speak to as many people in the area of Alma Street and Boardman Street from 5pm tonight to hopefully get some new information. This was a planned attack and although no physical violence was used, there was certainly a clear threat and staff were left very shaken by the ordeal.

"The offenders showed clear determination to get what they came for and a substantial amount of money was stolen. I would appeal to anyone that may have seen them hanging around the bank in the lead up to the robbery, or possibly changing vehicles on Alma Street or Boardman Street to come forward."

The two offenders that went into the bank were both wearing navy blue clothing and balaclavas.

Anyone with any information is asked to call Swinton CID on 0161 856 5351 or Crimestoppers anonymously on 0800 555 111. 

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