JOHN Diggle and his family will never forget the night that armed robbers forced their way into their Leigh home.

Mr Diggle, a bank manager, his wife and two daughters were held hostage overnight before the gang robbed a bank in Bury.

One year on and the gang is still at large.

This week detectives investigating the well-planned and targeted robbery made a fresh appeal for information.

Mr Diggle says: "The whole incident has left us all extremely traumatised and we will never be able to forget those fearful moments.

"We were enjoying a family night in, just like any normal evening, when the men burst in and forced us to leave the house. To say we were terrified is an understatement.

"I never imagined being a bank manager would put me and my family through such hell.

"What these men did to us will stay with us all for a very long time but we are determined they will not ruin our lives."

On Tuesday evening, 21 September 2004, at around 8pm, 45-year-old Mr Diggle was at home in Leigh with his wife Lynne 44, and their two daughters when their was a knock at their front door. The two girls, aged 14, and 12, answered the door to two men, one of whom had a handgun. The two men were also carrying walkie-talkies.

The men threatened the girls and forced them and the rest of the family into the lounge. While the family were kept there, one of the men ran upstairs and grabbed pillowcases and duvets from the bedrooms. The offender began to ask John about his work, which is when John realised that the men wanted to rob the bank.

John was told to get ready as if he would be going to work and one of the offenders picked up John's glasses asking if he needed them. One of the men used the walkie-talkie to talk to another person called 'Andy', a third person who detectives believe was waiting outside the house.

After a few minutes, the family were forced outside the house, through the conservatory and into the family car, a blue Fiat Brava.