Police car rammed at Arundel in armed robbery pursuit

Two men held up a Group 4 Securicor van delivering to cash machines at Tesco, Chichester, after 8am.

No shots were fired and nobody was injured.

The men ran off and got into a 4x4 Mercedes parked in the car park, which drove off and was found nearby, burnt out, shortly afterwards.

The men are then believed to have got into a silver Saab saloon which drove off eastward.

Saab rammed police car

Police units responded swiftly and the Saab rammed a police car on the A27 at Arundel and drove on.

It was abandoned soon afterwards in Mill Lane, High Salvington.

Suspects ran off into the grounds of The Vale School, in Vale Avenue, Findon Valley.

After a police search two men were arrested in the school, and cash recovered both in the Saab and in the school.

Handguns found

Two handguns were found in the Saab. There was no violence during the arrests.

Chief Inspector James Asser, Worthing and Adur District commander, said: "We are reassuring staff, pupils and parents that the area has quickly been made safe and no children were endangered during the search.

"We have just finished checking the school and grounds in case there was a third suspect and children were kept secure at the school whilst that was done."

A third person was not seen during the robbery or the subsequent pursuit and nobody else was found during the search.

Anyone who saw two men loitering at Tescos before the attack, or who saw the attack and the men escaping in the Mercedes, is asked to contact Sussex Police on 0845 60 70 999 quoting Serial 174 of 22 March.

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