POLICE are hunting up to four men thought to have been involved in a robbery in a general dealer's and off-licence shop.

At about 6.30pm on Sunday, two men wearing woollen masks burst into the shop in The Avenue, Seaham, County Durham, where one of the women shop assistants was cleaning the floor and the second was behind the counter.

One of the raiders produced a large knife with a serrated blade and held it against the throat of one of the women and demanded money, while a second man brandished a hammer.

The pair took several hundred pounds from the till and fled the premises, making off towards a field near Graham's Way.

Investigators have yet to establish if two men who were outside the shop were keeping watch while the raid was carried out.

The two victims, one woman in her 60s and the other middle-aged, were badly shocked but otherwise unhurt.

Detective Constable Steve Hedley said he believed the men involved may have been from the Seaham area.

They spoke with a local accent and appeared to have an understanding of the geography of the area.

He appealed for anyone who saw men acting suspiciously outside the premises, who saw them making their getaway, or might know their identity, to contact Peterlee police station on 0191-586 2621, or Crimestoppers on 08000 555111.

The man armed with the knife is described as 5ft 8in, about 20 years old and of average build. He was wearing a balaclava.

His accomplice, who was carrying the hammer, was similarly masked. He is described as about the same height and age.

Police are not connecting the robbery with an attempted mugging in the town's Eastlea Road about half-an-hour later.

The victim, a woman in her 20s, was walking along a footpath shortly after leaving The George public house when she was approached by youths.

One of them snatched her handbag while a second pushed her in the back.

After a brief struggle, she managed to fend them off and the pair ran off.