[28 AUG 00] CRIMES, FIRES & ACCIDENTS
Armed Raid On Sphinx Sports & Social Club

Staff locking up a Coventry club were ordered back inside by robbers who then fled with cash and stole a car.

The manager and woman staff member at Sphinx Sports and Social Club in Sphinx Drive, Stoke, were closing up last night about 11.50pm when they were robbed.

A West Midlands Police spokeswoman said:

"They were approached by two men who were armed with a sawn-off shotgun.

"They smashed the windows of the car the pair had got into and forced the two to get out of the car to return to the club."

The staff had to open up the office and the robbers stole a "substantial amount of cash".

They fled in the blue Sierra, with the registration E761 JBY, that belonged to the manager.

Police said no shots were fired and no one was injured. But the 46-year-old manager and a 21-year-old woman, both from the Coventry, were shaken by the incident.

The robbers are described as two white males, who were both thin and about 5ft 10in.

One was said to be aged 30 to 35, with dark-coloured clothing and his face was hidden by a scarf.

His accomplice was aged about 25, with a dark-blue baseball cap, a blue t-shirt, jeans and wearing sunglasses.

Anyone with information on the raid should call 024 7653 9040.