TWO bookies in East Lancashire were raided last night by masked man carrying baseball bats.

At 6.40pm the William Hill shop in Brierfield was targeted, but the offenders fled empty handed after staff raised the alarm, and nobody was hurt.

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Then at 8pm the Coral bookmakers, in Railway Road, Blackburn, was also targeted.

It is not yet known if they escaped with any money from the scene, but again nobody was hurt.

Inspector John Fryer from Lancashire Police said: “It is too early to say if the incidents are connected.”

An eyewitness outside Coral’s said: "Somebody on the street, possibly a customer who was in there at the time, told me had what happened and I went in to check on the girls who work there, I was most concerned about them.

"I looked in and there was nobody there but it turned out they had locked themselves in the back room when they saw the men entering.

"They said there were two people wearing balaclavas and carrying baseball bats."