A SHOPKEEPER was threatened with a baseball bat in an armed robbery at a Bickershaw shop.

Shortly after 6pm on Friday two men wearing balaclavas entered G and J Pye, a grocers and off-licence, on Bickershaw Lane.

One stood by the door, while the second approached the female shopkeeper and threatened her with a baseball bat and demanded she hand over cash.

After taking a quantity of money, the pair then left the shop and climbed into a stolen silver Audi A4, registration P51 HLV which was found burned out on Edna Road, off Wigan Road in Leigh around an hour later.

The Audi had been stolen from the driveway of a house in Hindley in the early hours of Sunday, March 3, after thieves 'hooked' the car keys from a hallway table.

The offenders are described as white, the one carrying the baseball bat was wearing a balaclava. The second was aged about 19, around 5ft 10in and of medium build.

DC Paul Ratcliffe from Leigh CID said: "This incident has left the shopkeeper extremely shaken, but fortunately she wasn't injured.

Abandoning

"We need to know where the Audi has been kept between the time it was stolen and when it was used in the robbery, and I would also ask anyone who saw the two men abandoning the vehicle to contact the police.

"I would also remind people of the dangers of leaving their car keys in places where they are easily accessible to thieves. Don't leave valuables, including car keys, on open view in your house and within line of sight from an open window or letterbox. If thieves can see the item from outside, they are more likely to try and steal it."

Anyone with information about the robbery or who saw the Audi after it was stolen is asked to contact Leigh CID on 0161 856 7253 or call Crimestoppers anonymously on 0800 555 111.