POLICE are hunting a gang of robbers who went on a crime spree in Fareham and Ports-mouth.

A security guard was left seriously shaken after he was attacked by a gang of up to four people who stole a cash box before threatening to mow him down with their stolen car.

Minutes before the attack detectives believe the same gang struck at a Fareham convenience store, stealing bottles of alcohol.

CCTV pictures from the Co-op store in Gudge Heath Lane have been released in a bid to find the attackers.

Detectives believe the crime spree began in the early hours of Christmas Eve at Portchester where a Vauxhall Cavalier was stolen from a home on Leith Avenue.

It is believed the car was then used in another robbery at Anchorage Park in Portsmouth where a sleeping lorry driver was threatened by a gang brandishing a crowbar.

They escaped with trays of meat and chickens that they had stolen from the back of his lorry.

It is thought the gang then came back to Fareham, targeting the Co-op before attacking a 63-year-old security guard who was finishing his shift at Hartlands Road.

He told police how he had been collecting money from a nearby business at about 7.15am on Christmas Eve when he was set upon by the gang.

After taking the cash box from the security guard, the men got into a dark H-registration Vauxhall Cavalier and tried to reverse into the 63-year-old, leaving him shaken.

The car was later found burnt out on Portsdown Hill.

Det Con Neil Cunningham, of Fareham CID, said: "This was a nasty incident and the security guard was very shaken, although fortunately he was not injured.

"The robbery took place close to the bus station and there may well have been people on their way to work who noticed something. I would appeal to anyone who saw anything out of the ordinary, however insignificant it may seem, to contact police."

Police have also released a CD-fit of one of the offenders in a bid to trace the gang of three or more men, who were all white and aged between 20 and 25, who were last spotted heading towards Paulsgrove.

Anyone with information relating to the Fareham incidents can contact Det Con Cunningham on 0845 045 4545. For the Portsmouth robbery, contact Det Sgt Jo Smith at Fratton CID on the same number.