Supermarkets hit in armed raids

TWO Staffordshire supermarkets were targeted for cash and cigarettes in the fourth shop raid across the region in just two days.

The terrifying raids are the latest in a series of armed robberies that have seen goods stolen from stores across the West Midlands in the last few weeks.

Crowbar-wielding robbers struck at the Co-op at the Swan Corner Shopping Precinct, in Chase Road, Burntwood, yesterday as staff were opening up.

Just hours earlier, balaclava-clad thieves armed with an axe used a silver Vauxhall Vectra estate to ram-raid the front door of Tesco Express, in Walsall Road, Great Wyrley.

Police said today that the two robberies were not being linked but they are the latest in a spate of raids across Staffordshire and the Black Country.

Masked raiders armed with a knife, hammers and axes raided two stores in Wolverhampton on Tuesday.

During the raid in Burntwood, robbers armed with a crowbar got in through the back door at about 6am.

Two of the men were seen wearing brightly coloured gardening gloves. They managed to escape with a quantity of cash.

In Great Wyrley, cigarettes were stolen from behind the counter at 11pm on Tuesday. The Vauxhall Vectra used in the raid was abandoned in nearby Lea Lane shortly afterwards.