Teenage girl had meat cleaver held to her throat during terrifying robbery

A teenage girl had a meat cleaver held to her throat during a terrifying robbery at a convenience store in Middleton.

The 17-year-old girl - a shop assistant at Martins on Kirkway, Middleton - was threatened when three men robbed the store at about 1.30pm or 1.40pm on 11 May 2014.

She and two other shopworkers, both girls one aged 17 and the other 18, were on duty when a gang of three men burst into the store. One of the men was carrying the meat cleaver, another had a large knife and the third man was unarmed.

They demanded the till be opened and the thief brandishing the meat cleaver held the weapon to the 17-year-old's neck, before threatening to cut her head off if she did not open the till.

The unarmed offender ripped the till out and the three offenders fled, leading to a brief confrontation with a man who was just going into the store.

This man, 68, chased after the gang and although they got away, they did drop the till as they fled.

No-one was physically injured as a result of the robbery, although everyone particularly the young girls - were extremely shaken up.

Police are now appealing to anyone with information to come forward.

The first offender is described as being 18-20-years-old, about 5ft 8in tall, of an average build and wearing a dark coloured zip-up tracksuit top with matching tracksuit bottoms, believed to be Nike branded. He also had either a balaclava or scarf to mask his face.

The second offender was white, 5ft 10in tall, of a skinnier build and also wearing a dark coloured tracksuit and either a balaclava or scarf to mask his face. The final offender was white, 5ft 8in tall and had a more muscular build. He was wearing a similar outfit to his two accomplices.

Detective Constable Dan Daly said: "As you can imagine, these girls are extremely traumatised by what happened. For someone to hold a meat cleaver to a teenage girl's neck and threaten to attack her underlines just how cowardly and violent this gang is and we need to catch them.

"Thankfully no-one was physically injured, and because of the bravery shown by a member of the public who gave chase, this gang's violent actions were largely in vain as they dropped the money.

"However, the fact they were empty-handed should in no way diminish the seriousness of their actions and the harm and intimidation they subjected three innocent young women to.

"We need to catch these men so I would appeal to anyone who has any information whatsoever to come forward."

Anyone with information should call police on 101 or the independent charity Crimestoppers, anonymously, on 0800 555 111.