Yahoo News Piccadilly luxury watch store hit by 'axe-wielding' raiders for second time in months
A luxury watch store in central London has been targeted in a smash-and-grab raid by "axe-wielding" robbers for the second time in six months.
Four raiders smashed their way through the windows of the Piccadilly Chronext store just before 11am on Thursday.
Police said they pulled up outside on mopeds before breaking their way in.
Flying Squad officers arrived on the scene but the robbers had already fled with a number of items.
A photo of the Mayfair boutique, which buys and sells high-end watches, showed the shattered glass as forensics officers carried out their investigation.
Charles Clements, 56, a hog roast vendor at the next door In Out food court, said he saw an axe on the pavement after the police arrived.
He said: "I saw the police go flying by, went out to see what was going on and there was a great big axe on the middle of the pavement.
"There was also a breezeblock just inside the shop.
"The robbers must have disappeared very quickly as I didn't hear anything until they'd gone.
"Apparently they escaped through the gates of the food court."
The same store was hit last August by a gang of armed moped thieves who were tackled to the ground by police as they tried to escape.
Read more
On that occasion, the raiders used an axe to get inside the store, leaving with more than £1m worth of goods.
Detective Constable Richard Watson suffered a bleed on the brain and a fractured skull as he clung on to one of the mopeds.
In November, four men were jailed for more than 38 years over the raid.
