THE public is being urged not to approach a man who carried out a series of 'terrifying' armed raids who has now absconded from prison.

John Hardy, aged 27, has gone missing from HMP Kirkham, near Preston.

He is serving an indeterminate prison sentence for breach of licence, burglary dwellings and car crime after he was sentenced at Bolton Crown Court in 2009 and for further burglary offences dealt with at Manchester Minshull Street Crown Court in 2010.

The offences he was sentenced for at Bolton Crown court include a spree of armed raids on shops in Farnworth and Westhoughton in 2008 and 2009.

On January 4 2008, Hardy was among a group of three men who burst into the Ladbrokes in Albert Road, Farnworth wearing balaclavas, he was armed with a 10-inch knife and one of his accomplices was armed with an axe.

During the year long series of raids, Hardy also hit another Ladbrokes, Alpine Express, an outdoor clothing shop in Bolton Road Westhoughton and Premier Stores in Plodder Lane, Farnworth, when Hardy was yielding an 18-inch knife.

During the raids he threatened member of staff and stole a large quantity of cash and other items.

Hardy, who is from Little Hulton, went missing between 5pm and 8.30pm on Thursday.

A Lancashire Police spokesman said: “John Hardy left HMP Kirkham yesterday and has not been seen since. Anybody who sees him, or knows where he may be, is asked not to approach him, but to contact us as soon as possible to let us know his whereabouts.”

He is described as white, around 5ft 10ins tall, of slim build, with blue eyes, shaven brown hair and various tattoos on his right arm including a man’s name and a smiley face.

Hardy also stole a Ford Galaxy from a house in Cornwall Avenue, Over Hulton and targeted the One Stop shop in Minerva Road in Farnworth.

The final robbery was at the Co-op in Highfield Road, Farnworth, in March 2009.

As well as Salford, he has connections to Manchester and may have travelled there.

When he was sentenced, a judge said that Hardy represented a 'very significant risk of serious harm to members of the public.

Anybody with information is asked to contact police by emailing westintelunit@lancashire.pnn.police.uk or calling 101, quoting log number 1520 of August 24th.