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MASKED robbers wielding machetes and a crowbar smashed into a Darwen bank and forced terrified staff to hand over cash.

Witnesses described how two men wearing balaclavas threw an iron grid through the glass frontage of Lloyds TSB in Duckworth Street just minutes after the bank closed at 4.30pm today, in full view of shoppers and pedestrians.

Police said they escaped with cash boxes and bags containing a "substantial" amount of cash, but nobody was injured during the incident.

Staff at Revive hair salon, directly opposite the bank, saw the entire incident unfold.

A stylist, who did not want to be named, said: "We had a client in with her two children and one was stood looking outside.

"There was a loud bang, and then the little girl shouted that someone had put the bank window through.