TWO women customers were held hostage by masked raiders in a terrifying £100,000 raid at a Horwich bank.

One of the women had a two foot long machete held at her throat and the other had a gun pointed at her head. The women were in a queue inside Barclays Bank in Winter Hey Lane when the two robbers burst in minutes after a cash delivery on Thursday lunchtime.

They threatened to hurt the two women if any staff stood in their way.

The two men then filled a large holdall with cash from the safe before they escaped in a car.

The daughter of one of the women -- a 57-year-old -- said she had been left "extremely traumatised" by her ordeal.

She said her mother had been on a weekly visit to the bank to pay her bills.

She said: "The raider held the machete to her head and threatened to hurt her if they didn't hand over the money."

The drama began after a Securicor van delivered cash at about 11am.

As the van was about to pull away, two men wearing dark clothing, balaclavas and gloves ran into the bank.

They grabbed hold of the two women who were the only customers in the bank at the time.

The gunman dragged his hostage, who was in her 30s, to a security door at the side of the counter and pointed the weapon at her head.

Fearing for her safety, the cashier opened the door.

The second robber stayed by the door of the bank, grabbing the second woman with such force that her coat was ripped.

He dragged her into the office and forced a cashier to open the safe. As he finished loading the money into a black holdall, a member of staff activated the alarm which filled the bank with smoke.

The second woman seized her chance to escape and ran outside screaming.

As the smoke billowed out of the front door, the two robbers panicked.

One ran out of the main entrance, while the other was trapped in the office.

He demanded to be let out by staff but was forced to escape through a fire exit.

The men jumped into a stolen Vauxhall Vectra parked in a nearby street and driven by a third man. It was found burnt out a short time later in an alleyway at the rear of Crown Lane, Horwich, less than a mile away.

The same branch was robbed 18 months ago by a gang armed with a sawn off shotgun and an axe. They have still not been caught.

Det Insp Martin Freschini of Bolton Police said the men involved in the latest raid were "extremely dangerous".

He said: "They showed no regard whatsoever for the welfare of those in the bank.

"It was a terrifying experience for both the staff and the customers who were all female. Every single person who was in the bank has been left totally terrified by what happened. They all feared they were going to be killed."

Paul Barron said he was working inside his photography shop opposite the bank when he heard a lot of shouting.

Mr Barron said: "The next thing I saw smoke pouring out of the front door of the bank. I couldn't believe it. I locked my shop and dialled 999."

Part of Winter Hey Lane was cordoned off for around an hour .

Forensic and scenes of Crime officers spent the afternoon searching the inside of the bank and the burnt out car for clues. Detectives have taken away CCTV footage.

The bank was reopened for business on Friday.

Anyone with information is asked to call 0161 856 5740 or Crimestoppers on free phone 0800 555 111.