FRIGHTENED diners hid under their tables as masked robbers armed with bats and Tasers emptied the tills at a pub in Kidderminster.

Three men are reported to have entered the Mare and Colt pub in Summerfield through the kitchen just before 7.30pm on Monday night (October 26) and threatened staff to hand over money from the till.

One diner, who was in the pub at the time, said the men threatened to "smash the place up" and hit the bar with a bat while terrified diners hid under their tables.

The woman, who asked to remain anonymous, told The Shuttle: "I was in there with a friend having some food and a couple of drinks and we heard an altercation at the bar.

"We were sat round the corner at the time and we heard people shouting but we just thought it was people complaining about their food or something.

"Then the three boys started shouting to empty the till. They had baseball bats and Tasers, they had come into the bar through the kitchen.

"They started shouting at the girls behind the bar but they were saying they couldn't open the till without a key.

"The boys said to open the till or they would smash the place up. They got Tasers out and one of them was smashing their bat on the bar.

"The girls managed to open the tills and I think they got away with money from three tills.

"While all this was happening, someone who worked there looked at me and said quietly to call the police, so I did.

"It was all very frightening - not what you would expect from a quiet Monday night."

All three robbers were said to be wearing masks and were dressed in hoodies and tracksuit bottoms.

Police in riot vans arrived at the scene within minutes, by which time the robbers had already left the scene.

Inspector Kirsty Hickling, from West Mercia Police, said: “The men threatened the staff with small batons until they handed over a quantity of cash from the till.

"Thankfully, none of the staff were hurt however the three men then left the pub in a dark coloured car.

“The investigation is in the early stages and I would ask anyone with any information to please contact us on 101 and quote incident number 00575i of October 26, 2020.”

A spokesperson for the Mare and Colt added: “We are supporting a police investigation into an incident at the pub last night.

"Fortunately no team or customers were harmed and our priority is now supporting the team members affected.”