A Hale Barns man has spoken of the “horrible” ordeal he and other shoppers suffered during an armed raid at a Tesco Extra store in Baguley yesterday.
Three masked men stormed the Altrincham Road supermarket shortly before 11.15am, threatening staff and customers before leaving in a waiting car with a quantity of cash.
The 37-year-old witness, who wanted to be known only as Barry, said one man was holding a “one to two-foot long machete” while another was wielding a “large sledgehammer”. All three were dressed in dark clothes and balaclavas.
Barry said: “They bounded in and headed to the travel money kiosk, smashing the hammer on the glass exterior which made a loud bang but didn’t smash.
“They demanded everyone to go to the back of the store and told the staff they wanted the money.”
There then followed a “horrible ordeal” lasting five to 10 minutes, added the witness, while the men waited for the store’s safe to open.
He added: “They continued to pace around at the front of the store, threatening some people who tried to film them on their smartphones and telling the staff to hurry up.
“They took a carrier bag from where the tills were and used that to carry the money in from the travel money kiosk. As far as I know no money was taken from the actual tills.
“People were very shook up and members of staff were crying.”
I was very surprised they didn’t arrive before the robbers fled due to the length of time it all took. The alarm was raised straight away as soon as they demanded the cash
Barry said the men left in a small blue hatchback-type car that was waiting outside the front door, before leaving at speed in the direction of Selco Builders Warehouse.
He described the men as about six foot tall and with local accents.
The witness added he was “very surprised” at the length of time police had taken to arrive at the scene.
“It was quite surreal and frightening, many of the staff had to be comforted afterwards,” he added.
“The police took some time to come and arrived a few minutes after they had gone.
“I was very surprised they didn’t arrive before the robbers fled due to the length of time it all took. The alarm was raised straight away as soon as they demanded the cash.”
It’s the second armed raid on a local supermarket in a fortnight after last month’s incident at Iceland in Timperley.
People said today however that the two incidents are not thought to be linked, but that they are looking into the possibility of a connection with an armed robbery at a Tesco store in Burnage on September 22.
