A MACHETE gang snatched more than £100,000 in cash after they threatened security guards delivering money to a petrol station.

The masked men warned the two guards that they would "slash" them with the knives if they did not hand over the cash.

The guards were confronted by the raiders - who jumped out of a blue Volvo S40 car - as they were stocking a cashpoint machine on the forecourt of the Esso garage in Bradford Street, Bolton.

The raiders grabbed three cash boxes and fled in the same car they arrived in.

Detectives were today studying CCTV footage of the dramatic hold-up from security cameras at the petrol station.

Nobody was injured during the robbery but the security guards and petrol station staff were left shaken by the incident, which happened shortly after noon.

Police sealed off roads throughout Bolton within minutes of the robbery - and the police helicopter was called to the scene - but the raiders managed to escape.

The getaway car used by the gang was found abandoned at the rear of a row of houses on Castle Street, The Haulgh.

It is thought the robbers abandoned the car before fleeing in a second vehicle which detectives are now trying to trace.

Police said the car they dumped after the raid had been stolen after a burglary at a house in Cheshire on August 1.

The car was still being examined by forensics experts today.

The man leading the hunt for the gang, Det Sgt Ray Sherlock of Astley Bridge CID, urged people who were in the area at the time to come forward with any information. He said: "This must have been very frightening for the victims. Thankfully no-one was hurt but the two guards and the petrol station staff who witnessed it were very shaken."

House-to-house enquiries were under way last night to find the second vehicle used in the getaway.

Det Sgt Sherlock added that there was nothing to indicate that the raid was linked to other recent armed robberies in the area. The three men were described as wearing dark clothing and black balaclavas.

Anyone who witnessed the robbery or has any information which could assist police in their enquiries is asked to contact CID at Astley Bridge on 0161 856 5748 or Crimestoppers anonymously on free phone 0800 555 111.