Armed robbery at Warwickshire hotel

Four men carrying firearms raided the 17-bedroom Woodhouse Hotel in Princethorpe, Warwickshire, in the early hours of Saturday morning.

The raid, at 1.30am, took place just as staff were closing up for the night and putting the day's takings in the safe, said owner Julia Grundy.

"We think they must have been in the car park watching people going because they couldn't have chosen a better time to do it," she said.

It's still unclear how much the raiders made off with, but it included the bar and change floats and all the wages. "It all just happened so quickly, it was unreal," she added. "The police did come quickly, but it was too late."

None of the staff were hurt, although they were shaken, and there was no other damage done in the raid.

It is the first time the hotel has been raided in this way but, said Grundy, a local TGI Friday's and a Morrison's supermarket had also been raided recently, raising suspicions of a gang actively targeting the area.

by Nic Paton