Bank raiders escape with £70,000

The raid took place in Barnard Castle's Market Place

Robbers got away with more than £70,000 as security guards were delivering cash to a bank in a County Durham market town.

The raiders struck in the early hours of Tuesday morning as guards working for Securicor delivered cash to Barclays bank in Barnard Castle.

The money was in cassettes bound for cashpoint machines inside the Market Place bank.

Police have yet to say whether the raid is linked to other robberies in rural County Durham over the past two months, in which robbers have escaped with tens of thousands of pounds from post offices.

Police say the raid, which took place at 0130 BST on Tuesday, was well planned and involved at least two men armed with wooden staves.

One guard was knocked to the ground and threatened, but otherwise unhurt.

The raiders, wearing dark clothing and masks, fled down a nearby alley to a waiting car, thought to be a small hatchback.

Detective Sergeant Billy Hugill, of Durham Police, said: "This robbery appears to have been well executed.

"It is possible the raiders had been in the area for some time to reconnoitre the Market Place area."