These dramatic CCTV image show robbers armed with weapons during a terrifying £75,000 raid on a Shrewsbury bank, as police continued their hunt for the gang.

Police released the new camera footage today as they issued a renewed appeal for witnesses to trace the masked robbers who carried out the raid on Lloyds TSB in Shrewsbury on Thursday morning. 

See the full-size images below

Staff were threatened with a handgun, sledgehammer and crowbar during the raid.

Detectives today revealed they are examining the possibility that the robbery may be linked to two other similar incidents – one in Telford on September 5 and another in Kidderminster on Friday.

In the Shrewsbury incident, four men with their faces covered and dressed in dark clothing entered Lloyds TSB in Mount Pleasant Road at about 9.25am on Thursday.

A cash delivery had been under way at the time and although no-one was injured, staff were left shaken and distressed. A fifth man is believed to have remained in the robbers’ vehicle outside, a black 2004 registration Fiat Ulysse people carrier, which the other four jumped into before it made off down Mount Pleasant Road. The vehicle had been stolen in the Manchester area last month.

The car headed up Sandford Avenue where it crashed into a bollard at the junction with Long Row and the robbers then fled the vehicle.

Detective Inspector Jason Wells, who is leading the investigation, said: “Despite an extensive police search, also involving the force helicopter, the men were not found and we believe they may have had a second vehicle somewhere in the area. 

“I would ask people to think back and if any of them saw four or five white men, dressed in dark clothing and carrying two large black Umbro holdalls with white piping, either on foot or getting into a vehicle then please call Shrewsbury CID on 08457 444888.”

By John Kirk