TWO armed robbers who threatened guards with a shotgun, machete and truncheon at Cheshire Oaks before fleeing with £285,000 were yesterday jailed for a total of 33 years.

The pair from Liverpool targeted guards at the popular Outlet Village as they filled cash machines with hundreds of thousands of pounds.

Ronald Lashley, 46, and Michael Anthony Crowley, 46, were sentenced to a total for 33 years at Chester Crown Court for their part in the robbery last summer. Judge Elgin Edwards, who sentenced Lashley to 18 years for the robbery at Cheshire Oaks and five years for possession of a firearm and Crowley to 15 years for the robbery and five years for firearms possession, said the raid was "a highly organised, well planned, professional robbery".

The judge added: "It was a traumatic ordeal for the security guards and a 60-year-old woman who was also robbed by Lashley. It was a traumatic ordeal that will remain with them for the rest of their lives."

Cheshire Oaks Designer Outlet Village opened in 1995 and has many boutiques selling designer and brand name clothes, making it a highly popular shopping destination for people from across the North West and beyond.

The robbery happened at lunch time on Friday, June 10 when the guards were in the process of filling the cash machines at the shopping outlet.

The men dropped from the roof space above the machines and threatened the guards with a shotgun, machete and truncheon.

They took £285,000 from the cash machines and van and left the guards bound by their hands and feet before escaping through the roof space.

Two of the men escaped in a Vauxhall Vectra while a third threatened a member of the public and stole her Toyota Celica, which was later found partially burnt out in Frodsham.

DC Paul Rickett, who was part of the investigating team, expressed the police's satisfaction with the sentences.

He said: "Two professional criminals have been brought to justice by the sentence imposed by the judge.

"Hopefully, this will show others that there is no gain in committing this sort of crime in the Cheshire area."

DC Rickett added: "The sentence is a testament to all the hard work put in by the officers involved in the investigation."

Two further robbers involved in the raid have not been caught and Cheshire Police have said the investigation is continuing.

liammurphy@dailypost.co.uk