Hammer raiders snatch cash box

Hammer-wielding robbers on a scrambler motorbike injured a security van driver as they snatched a cash box from him at a busy Dudley petrol station.

Police, who are appealing for witnesses to the robbery in Woodsetton, described it as a "nasty" attack. The two masked men pulled up at the Total garage at 9.30am yesterday.

The pair demanded the box from the cash-in-transit delivery driver and tried to force open the door of the van during the attack in Sedgley Road.

The 34-year-old driver's foot was injured in the struggle as he tried to lock the vehicle.

One of the men smashed the van's side window with a hammer before grabbing the cash box and making off on the bike along Bramford Drive.

Witnesses have reported seeing red smoke as they drove off, which may have been coming from a security device used to mark notes as a cash box is forced open.

Police are not revealing the amount that was stolen but said it was a "substantial quantity of cash."

Det Sgt Mick Greenland, from West Midlands Police CID, said: "This was a determined and nasty attack on the cash delivery driver as he made his morning call at the Total Garage.

"Sedgley Road is usually fairly busy with commuters and school traffic and we are sure people will have been in the area and seen these men either arriving at the petrol station before the robbery, or making their getaway."

The driver, who worked for Security Plus, did not need hospital treatment.

Both offenders were described as white, wearing balaclavas and dark clothing. They escaped on a black scrambler motorbike.

Anyone with information can call Force CID at Smethwick Police Station on 101.

Security Plus declined to comment.