TWO men were arrested in Great Harwood last night following an armed robbery at an off licence.

Police said two men, one wearing a balaclava and carrying a handgun, burst into the Premier Store off licence, St Hubert's Road, at around 8.10pm, demanding money from the till.Terrified staff handed over money, thought to be hundreds of pounds.

Police cordoned off the road and made door-to-door enquiries. Shop staff were also questioned about the raid.

The men, aged 35 and 25, were arrested near a shop further up the road, a couple of hours after the robbery.

Bob Landon, owner of The Dairy, also in St Hubert's Road, said: "Police came into the shop to ask me if I had seen any suspicious people in the shop. We were upstairs running back the CCTV for the police.

"A number of police cars arrived and the police put the handcuffs on a man there and then and he was taken away."

Inspector Andy Hill, of Blackburn Police, said: "Two men were arrested a short time afterwards in the Great Harwood area and we recovered certain items connected with the offence. There were no injuries to anybody involved."

One resident in St Hubert's Road, who did not wish to be named, said: "I did not really hear anything but the next thing I knew there were police everywhere in the street outside and somebody said there had been an armed robbery at the off licence."