TELEVISION viewers will be asked to help track down a gang of vicious armed robbers who mounted a terrifying raid on a Little Sutton bank.

Next Wednesday, a crew from Granada TV's Crimefile programme will film a reconstruction of the attack on a branch of the Halifax inside Jones Chapman estate agents in Chester Road 12 days ago, which left two women cashiers so traumatised they needed hospital treatment.

The episode is due to be screened on Tuesday October 9 at 7.30pm.

It was just after 11.20am on Friday September 14 that a silver Vauxhall Cavalier, stolen the previous day in Elton, mounted the kerb and drove at speed along the pavement before screeching to a halt outside the estate agents.

Two masked men, one armed with a handgun and the other with a long-handled sledge-hammer, leapt from the vehicle and entered the premises.

The man with the sledge-hammer smashed his way through the security glass while the second offender threatened the two women workers with the gun.

Having demolished the screen, the man jumped over the counter and stole an undisclosed amount of cash.

The raiders made off at high speed towards Childer Thornton, where they abandoned the Cavalier and switched to a Citroen Picasso people carrier, which was later found dumped on the B&Q car park in Ellesmere Port.

The vehicle was one of two Picassos stolen the previous day from a garage in Moston, near Chester, and police are unsure whether the gang made their final getaway in the second one, which has still not been found.

Apart from the reconstruction the Crimefile item will also feature footage from a security video taken inside the estate agents, which graphically illustrates the brutal force used in the robbery.

Detective Inspector Steve Gould, of Ellesmere Port CID, said: 'We asked the programme to highlight this robbery as it was one of the most vicious my officers have ever seen.

'We are anxious to have all the information we can to help us track down those responsible.'

* Witnesses should call Ellesmere Port CID on 01244 613133 or Crimestoppers in complete confidence on 0800 555 111.