RAIDERS attacked security guards filling up a cash machine last night but fled empty handed.

Police said three or four people wearing balaclava masks struck at the Abbey building society in Manchester Road, Haslingden, at 9.10pm.

The two security guards, who work for Securicor, were treated at Fairfield Hospital for minor injuries after being attacked with sticks and bats.

Police said the attackers fled in a high performance car, possibly a silver Audi.

Insp Clive Cope said: "This was an unsuccessful robbery and we don't have any discriptions of the offenders at this stage but obviously an investigation has begun."

It is the second robbery on the Abbey in six months..

In September, robbers got into the bank through the ceiling after waiting overnight in an upstairs flat.

When staff ariived in the morning they were made to open safes. The raiders escaped with several thousand pounds.

Then, in November, robbers carried out two seperate armed raids in the town centre in a space of 30 minutes.

Police said terrified staff at Lloyds TSB in Deardengate were robbed by two men wielding a gun and a crowbar -- and three masked men threatened to kill two shop assistants at Bargain Booze in Manchester Road.

They are believed to have got away in a silver Peugeot, driven by a third man, which was stolen from Manchester in September. The car, which had false number plates, was found burned out in Charles Lane shortly after the raid.

The raid at Lloyds TSB follows a similar robbery at the bank's branch in Bolton Street, Ramsbottom, in September, when two masked men smashed their way through the counter's glass screen with a sledgehammer.