20 September 2012 Last updated at 12:18 ET

Masked gang steals £1m of watches from Manchester Selfridges

CCTV shows armed robbers smashing into Manchester Selfridges

Three "brazen" masked raiders stole designer watches worth £1m from a Manchester department store while the shop was busy with customers.

They used an axe and crowbar to smash into cabinets at Selfridges and removed about 100 watches.

The men, who wore high-visibility jackets and trousers, escaped in a black car driven by a fourth man on Wednesday evening.

The haul included brands like Audemars Piguet, Hublot and Cartier.

The raid took place in Exchange Square and the car was found abandoned just over a mile (1.6km) away in Robert Street, in the Strangeways area of the city.

Det Con Adam Cronshaw, of Greater Manchester Police, said: "This was a brazen robbery while the store was open and busy with members of the public.

"It was clearly well planned and executed. These men were in and out in less than 80 seconds and were very particular about the watches they selected."

He added: "The offenders will, at some point, undoubtedly look to off load these watches and I would urge people to be mindful of this robbery and again if anyone is approached with a view to buying any of these items to please contact us."