A MANHUNT is underway after five armed robbers equipped with hammers and baseball bats raided a newsagents in Belbroughton on Wednesday night.

The offenders, who were wearing balaclavas and hoodies, carried out the shop raid at McColl's on the High Street at around 8.45pm on October 26.

Four of the offenders entered the store and demanded money from the cashier, threatening him with hammers and baseball bats, while two stole an amount of cash from the till.

Cigarettes and alcohol were also stolen as two other offenders pushed an employee to the floor.

No-one was injured but the cashier and his male colleague were left shaken up by the incident. 

All offenders fled the scene on foot down an alleyway on Forge Lane to a car parked on Nash Lane.

Investigating officer, Det Sgt Alex Wheeler, said: "The incident did not last very long and, fortunately, no-one was injured but those involved were understandably shaken up.

"Incidents of this nature are incredibly rare in Belbroughton and we'd like to reassure members of the community everything is being done to ensure the offenders are brought to justice.

"We are particularly keen to speak to anyone who was in Forge Lane or Nash Lane between 8pm and 9pm as they may have information which would help with our investigation."

All five offenders were reported to be wearing hoodies, one was thought to have been dressed in grey jeans and three were believed to be in black bottoms.

One had white gloves and another was wearing black shoes with white soles.

Officers would like to hear from anyone in the area at the time of the incident, or who noticed anyone acting suspiciously earlier in the evening.

Anyone with information is asked to call West Mercia Police on 101 or Crimestoppers, anonymously, on 0800 555 111 quoting incident 710S of October 26.