A FEMALE bank security guard was left traumatised after an armed thug attacked her with an axe and snatched a cash box.

The woman was left badly shaken by the robbery at HSBC in Hillview Road in Astley Bridge on Tuesday.

The raider escaped in a silver Vauxhall Vectra which was found burnt out in Thorns Road shortly after the raid at about 2pm.

One man, wearing a balaclava, carried out the robbery before running to the car nearby and jumping into the back, before it sped away.

No arrests have been made and an investigation is ongoing.

A police spokesman said: "The key thing for us now is finding someone that saw where these two people went after burning the car out.

"We know what happened at the bank and where they went in the car, but it is that piece of the jigsaw we need to find."

Det Sgt Daniel Brophy said: “We believe the offenders abandoned the vehicle and made their way to a second vehicle which would’ve been left on Thorns Close.

“If anyone saw two men acting suspiciously in this area in the days leading up to the robbery or saw any vehicles that appeared out of place I would ask they get in touch with police.”

Eyewitnesses reported seeing a man in a grey top, wearing a balaclava and carrying a cash box, getting into the back seat of a silver Vauxhall Vectra, before it sped away.

Paul Gorman, aged 45, who works for Asda as a trolley attendant, said: “It must have happened at about two o’clock because I started my shift at 12.

“I saw a man in a grey top with a balaclava on carrying a cash box get in to the back of a silver Vauxhall Vectra and mount the curb and then skid off up Old Road. I tried to catch the registration but it was too quick.”

Police are not linking the robbery to any of the recent armed raids in the town, including one last week at the post office in Plodder Lane, Farnworth.

The raid is one of several to have taken place at the branch. Last year, armed raiders robbed a cash box from a security guard.

The two masked robbers struck just after 11am on August 5, using a crowbar to attack a G4S security guard who was holding the cash box on his way into the bank to make a delivery.

In December, a gas canister was used to blow a cash machine off the wall of the bank.

Staff at the nearby Asda heard a loud bang at about 4.20am, then saw four men driving off.

The machine was left hanging off the wall, but despite the dramatic scene, the robbers fled empty-handed.

Police are appealing for witnesses. Anyone with information should call them on 101.