BUNGLING robbers thought they had smashed their way through the roof of a bank - only to end up in an empty shop next door.

The gang hatched a plan to get inside the Royal Bank of Scotland in Poynton by breaking into a first-floor estate agent's office.

They worked through the night to cut a hole through the floor which they thought would lead them into the bank below.

To their surprise, when they popped their heads through the hole they saw they were not in the RBS, but in an abandoned cut-price shop next door called The Wendy House.

The gang then attempted to start again and dig their way through the correct floor, but they had left it too late and gave up.

Insp Gareth Woods said: "It was organised to a certain extent but it's clearly not the slickest of crimes we've seen."

Fire escape

It is thought the robbers waited until dark before they crept up a fire escape at the back of the bank in Fountain Place.

They then sneaked across a flat roof and broke through the door of a first-floor office that has been empty for two years.

Their bungled break-in was discovered when staff arrived at the bank the next morning and found pieces of plaster on the floor.

Insp Woods said: "It would have taken a fair while to dig a few holes like that.

"But even if they did get through, the chances of them getting in the vault would have been negligible. The greatest amount of planning has not gone into this.

"We are carrying out our enquiries and are urging anyone with information to contact us."

A spokesman for Greenham Commercial, the letting agents for the empty office above the bank, said: "It would have to have been a very professional break-in to work.

"It is bizarre, but it's annoying as well, because it has cost money to carry out repairs to the floor."