Masked men make off with £1m haul of watches in daylight robbery

Three masked men raid the Selfridges store in Manchester. Credit: ITV Granada

Masked raiders made off with a £1 million haul of luxury watches in a "brazen robbery" in front of stunned city centre shoppers.

The robbers struck at Selfridges in Manchester while the store was open and busy.

They walked into the premises in Exchange Square wearing high visibility jackets and trousers shortly after 7.20pm yesterday.

The video of the raid is on ITV Granada.

Police said the trio then smashed display cabinets with an axe and crowbars and stole 100 watches.

They escaped in a black Mercedes Benz driven by a fourth offender.

The car was found abandoned in Robert Street, Strangeways, a short time later.

Watches including Audemars Piguet, Jaeger Lecoultre, Hublot and Cartier were stolen.

Anyone with information should call police on 0161 856 3240, or Crimestoppers, anonymously, on 0800 555 111.

There is ongoing coverage of the investigation on ITV Granada.