HAMMER-wielding robbers who made off with £40,000 of luxury watches from a Selby high street jewellers are still at large.

Two men wearing black clothes and black balaclavas raided Herbert Brown’s, in Gowthorpe, at about 4.30pm on Tuesday.

The shop manager, who asked not to be named to protect her own safety, said the thieves knew what they wanted.

“They came in with a hammer each in their hands,” she said. “They threatened me and told me to open the window doors.

“They obviously knew exactly what they wanted – they targeted a display of secondhand quality watches, which included Rolexes, Cartier and other luxury brands.

“One held the shop door open while the other grabbed the display.”

The manager followed the men out of the shop at a distance and saw them get into a black Ford Focus, which had a getaway driver waiting.

“They shouted ‘go, go, go’ as they got in and he drove off towards to Leeds Road,” she said.

“There was a lot of parping horns because they cut people up.”

The car had the registration number KL56YCN.

The manager said the whole incident only lasted about a minute.

“The adrenaline kicked in. I don’t know whether I felt frightened or not.” she said.

“I was just shocked and did what they said.”

She said this was the first robbery she had been caught up in during 16 years in the trade, including ten years at Herbert Brown’s in Selby.

“We do occasionally get people snatching stuff, but this was our first robbery,” she said.

“We now have state-of-the-art CCTV technology in the shop, so anyone coming in to snatch things will get caught.”

Any witnesses or anyone with information should phone DC Martin Hinchcliffe on 0845 6060247.