POLICE are hunting for raiders who escaped with up to £500,000 worth of jewels in a robbery on a Southampton store.

Police revealed today that the robbers fled with between £250,000 and £500,000 worth of jewels and watches following the raid on Parkhouse and Wyatt.

Thieves smashed the front windows of the store in Above Bar Street before making off with the expensive haul.

It is thought robbers used sledge hammers to smash the windows at the entrance to the store and display units inside the store before making their getaway.

Witnesses described seeing a dark coloured Ford Escort car parked outside the store before speeding away from the scene.

Uniformed police officers stood guard outside the store and conducted shop-to-shop interviews in premises surrounding the jewellers following the smash and grab yesterday afternoon. A member of staff from the Ann Summers store opposite the jewellers said she saw the dark coloured car parked outside the store.

"We heard a report that three men had robbed the store and used sledge-hammers to smash the glass. You could see the front window had been smashed and that's where they display expensive engagement rings," she added.

A shop assistant in another store said customers watched the drama unfold from their window. "Our customers noticed the thieves running from the shop and jumping into the car and one said they may have been wearing balaclavas," she said.

"I didn't see all of it but the driver was a white man who was wearing a dark quilted jacket with a white hoody underneath and the hood up.

"There was also one man running from the shop and it looked like a young black man tried to stop him. He had the robber on the ground but was pushed away.

"The thief then jumped in the car and the car skidded off," she said.

An officer at the scene told the Daily Echo thieves had made off with valuables from the store.

"We can confirm that a robbery has taken place and we are now investigating," he said.

It is the second time that the exclusive jewellers have been the target of raiders.

In June, Siim Raud and Koit Purde were jailed for five years for robbing the store at gunpoint less than 24 hours after entering Britain.

As reported in the Daily Echo, Southampton Crown Court heard how they had made off with £260,000 before trying to make their getaway by boarding a bus because no taxis were available.

Police arrested the pair on the bus after they had been tracked on CCTV cameras.