PETROL station employees have been warned to be on their guard after two men, claiming to be detectives, tried to gain entry to a petrol station shop.

The men tried to persuade the cashier to let them into the premises in Andover Road, Winchester at 12.15am on Sunday.

When the cashier asked for identification the men flashed a card with a crest on it and said they were from Thames Valley CID.

The cashier became suspicious because the card did not contain a photograph and he refused to let them enter.

The men loitered in the petrol station forecourt before leaving in a taxi.

Both men were black and about five feet eight inches tall. One was in his late thirties and balding and the other in his late twenties with short, dark hair. Both were wearing black leather jackets.

At the time of the incident there were several people on the station forecourt.

Police are appealing to the taxi driver who collected the men and anyone who saw them to contact WPC Susanna Ross or the Crime Desk at North Walls police station in Winchester on 0845 045 45 45.