Heywood petrol station robbed

Robbers smashed their way into a Heywood petrol station before stealing cash and cigarettes in the early hours of this morning, Thursday 12 July 2007.

At around 2.20am, the male shop assistant was in the back office of the Texaco garage at Hopwood Services, on Middleton Road, when he heard the sound of breaking glass.

He went into the shop and saw four masked offenders had smashed the glass panels in the shop door with a lump hammer.

They came into the shop, went behind the counter and stole a quantity of cash and cigarettes before making off.

It's believed they then drove off in a grey Honda Civic.

The shop assistant was unhurt, but left shaken by the incident.

The first offender is described as between 6ft and 6ft 2in tall with a medium build, local accent and wearing a black waist-length jacket with the hood up and a black ski mask. He also wore black gloves and black tracksuit bottoms.

The second and third offenders also wore a black waist-length jacket with the hood pulled up, a black ski mask and black gloves.

A fourth offender was around 5ft 5in tall and he also wore the black clothes and ski mask.

Anyone who witnessed this incident is asked to phone Rochdale CID on 0161 856 4646 or Crimestoppers anonymously on 0800 555 111.