A Kidderminster pub was raided and cash taken from the gaming machines.

The raid at the Penny Black, Bullring, saw £400 -£500 taken.

Pub manager Paul Priest today said the front door of the pub was smashed before the fronts of the gaming machines were ripped off to steal cash.

He said that it is the first time the pub, part of the JD Wetherspoon chain, has been targeted but said that luckily no-one was inside it at the time.

He said: “They smashed the front door to get in and used something like a claw hammer to rip the fronts off the gaming machines.

“We are still making checks but we think there was probably between £400 and £500 inside them.”

The break-in, which happened on August 20 at around 5am, activated the alarm but the burglars managed to escape in a dark coloured car, believed to be a Peugeot 406.

Police in Kidderminster are appealing for witnesses to the burglary and they are asking market traders who may have been setting up in the area at the time to get in touch.

Anyone with information should call Pc Russell Bunce at Kidderminster police on 0300 333 3000 or Crimestoppers free and anonymously on 0800 555 111.