LATE night ram raiders who reversed a stolen Vauxhall Astra car through roller shutters at Burnley's Asda store were scared off by staff who were still working inside.

Police have praised the calm response of employees who were working at the time the raiders broke through metal shutters and a glass fire doors behind the tills at 11pm yesterday.

One employee used her mobile phone to contact the police while another female member of staff triggered the automatic fire alarm when the four balaclava-clad men entered the store.

Det Sgt Peter Simm said: "We have to praise the staff who did not try to tackle the men but, despite the situation, they were faced with remained calm and alerted the police and turned the fire alarm on.

"I don't think the raiders got what they were expecting.

"There were nine members of staff working in store.

"They were traumatised by what happened but no-one was injured.

"We will be interviewing them today."

One of the four white men involved in the raid was armed with a 4ft long shiny metal bar, which he used to smash a glass display case near the cigarette kiosk secured with metal shutters.

The men grabbed cigarettes worth less than £1,000 before leaving the scene after only seconds in the store.

All four were wearing dark clothing and one was 6ft 4ins with a stocky build while the others were of average height and build.

The blue Vauxhall, registration number K720 BNC, had been stolen from the Brunshaw area of Burnley yesterday and police are appealing for anyone who saw it being driven in the area to contact them.

It is not known what vehicle the men used to get away from the store and police are appealing to anyone who was in the vicinity of Princess Way at 11pm and who might have seen a car leaving the store's car park at speed.

A spokesman for Asda said: "The staff were restocking shelves when the car came through the glass doors behind the tills.

"The men were surprised to find people working in the store. The shutters were down on the kiosk and so they smashed a small display cabinet and stole the cigarettes.

Firefighters from Burnley also attended the scene when staff triggered the alarm.

Burnley Store manager John Horsfield said he could not comment.

Anyone with information can contact Burnley CID on 01282 425001.