TERRIFIED staff at a popular Run-corn sports club were held captive by knifemen in an early morning raid on Monday.

Four workers at Pavilions, Weston Point, were held hostage for half-an-hour in a back room while the two armed men cleared out the safe and threatened anyone who tried to stop them.

But the bungling thieves got away with just £110 after dropping thousands of pounds as they made a hurried escape.

The ordeal began at 8.30am when a groundsman and cleaner arrived for work. The two robbers - both wearing balaclavas to hide their faces - pulled out knives and demanded to be let into the building.

Once inside, they forced the man and woman into a back room, threatening them with violence if they tried to escape or call for help.

Shortly afterwards, two other members of staff arrived and were also bundled into the back room by the raiders.

The two then cleared out the safe - which contained a 'substantial' amount of money from the weekend's takings.

But the plot was foiled when one canny hostage managed to press a hidden 'panic button', bringing a security team from neighbouring Ineos Chlor racing to their rescue within minutes.

And, as the two men scrambled to make a getaway they dropped most of their bounty on the floor, before unsuccessfully trying to steal a car, then heading off towards the Clifton Expressway.

Police said the four staff were 'extremely distressed' after the incident, and one had even sustained a minor knife wound during a scuffle with their captors.

Roy Roberts from the Pavilions management team said: 'I wasn't there at the time, luckily, but it's been very distressing for those who were.

'They didn't get away with much, thank goodness, but it's not that that's important, it's the trauma of going through it.

'Luckily, we have a very good security system, and we have a number of emergency response alarms around the building which are linked to a security team at Ineos - they were here in a matter of minutes and must have disturbed the robbers.'

Investigating Detective Constable Sven Talbot said: 'A couple of the victims are very, very shaken, the other two are calm, but the worry is they're in shock.

'We know that one of the knives was used to cause injury, so there was potential for the situation to have been much worse - maybe they would have been prepared to carry out their threats.'

He said the men were described as both white with Merseyside accents. One was around 5ft 11ins, the other about 5ft 8ins.

Anyone with information, or who noticed anything suspicious outside Pavilions, Sandy Lane, or on the Clifton Expressway on Monday morning, is being urged to call DC Talbot on 01244 613 933, or Crimestoppers in confidence on 0800 555 111.