BUNGLING gunmen brought terror to a Bolton factory but fled without the spoils - after arriving TOO EARLY for a wages snatch.

The armed raiders were expecting to find the safe full off cash when they put a gun to the head of works director Joe Earp and demanded the keys.

But the masked gang got their timing all wrong and arrived minutes before the expected wages delivery at Beaver Lingerie in the multi storey Gilnow Mill, off Spa Road, Bolton.

As the gunmen fled down the stairwell with £2,000 in petty cash, a security guard delivering the wages was on his way up in the lift.

"It's a real twist, they were actually passing each other," said Mr Earp after his ordeal. Mr Earp and secretary Valerie Partington were waiting for the wages delivery in the glass fronted, second floor office when they turned to see two gunmen crouched by the door.

Mrs Partington collapsed in terror as one of the raiders put an automatic pistol to Mr Earp's head and demanded the keys to the safe.

They rifled through his pockets to find the keys, ordered him to open the safe, scooped the contents into a canvas bag and pulled out the telephone wires before fleeing down the stairs.

Mr Earp, a married man with one child, said: "The only wages were those we were holding for people off sick or on holiday. "They shouted 'Where are the rest? There should be more'. Thankfully they decided not to wait and just shot off. As they ran down the staircase, Armaguard were bringing the wages up in the lift."

Mr Earp and warehouseman Simon Wilson followed the fleeing gunmen and telephoned the police from a mobile phone as they watched the raiders speed away in a waiting car, driven by a third masked man.

Factory supervisor Kath Cocker had spotted the raid through the glass window and herded terrified workers to the other side of the shop floor. "They were very scared. Some started crying and shaking and others ran away down the fire escape," said Mr Earp.

Terrified workers were treated at the scene by ambulance crews and Mrs Partington was taken to hospital with shock. The police helicopter was launched but the raiders escaped.

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