HOODED raiders struck at an Accrington service station and threatened a terrified sales assistant with a gun.

The 19-year-old was today recovering at home after being threatened by the armed robbers during his shift at the petrol station last night.

The employee at the Supamart petrol station, in Hyndburn Road, was the only person on site when two hooded men approached the glass serving window.

The 24-hour garage was locked up when the incident happened about 2.10am, but the men demanded to be let in.

One of the men, believed to be in his 20s, threatened the teenager with what he believed was a gun.

Police Inspector Steve Haworth said: "They threatened the attendant through the window and demanded entry into the building.

"The young lad has been in fear of his life so he let them in.

"He handed them the cash, which is believed to be no more than £200, and they also grabbed about 200 cigarettes before escaping through the back door and across a car park.

"At some point during the incident they let a third man in through the back door.

"The attendant was quite shaken by what happened and the petrol station was closed for a few hours. We will be looking at CCTV evidence today and we do have some forensic evidence which may assist us. If anyone saw anyone hanging around that area up to midnight we would like them to get in touch."

The man, believed to be carrying the gun, was described as white, 5ft 2in and chubby, with a local accent, wearing a blue baseball cap, blue hooded pullover and dark trousers.

His accomplice is believed to be white, 6ft, medium build, wearing a white hooded jacket and dark trousers with a stripe down the leg. There is no description of the third man.

Site manager Denise Shaw said: "The attendant is very shaken and we did send him to recover from it. Luckily they didn't hurt him.

"It looks like they've more or less just grabbed what they wanted and run.

"We realised after the police had gone that they have actually broken into the back store room as well.

"We want to reassure customers that this sort of incident is quite rare and we've never had anything like this before."

The petrol station re-opened for business as usual at 5am today.

Anyone with information is asked to contact the police on 01254 51212.