Two men were being quizzed by detectives last night in connection with an armed robbery at a jewellers shop in Bradford.

Raiders, believed to be armed with a stick and possibly an axe, broke the glass in the front window of the shop to gain access.

The raid, at the Tayyeba jewellers in Little Lane, off Toller Lane, Girlington, was reported to police at about 1.30pm yesterday.

A quantity of jewellery is believed to have been taken in the incident, but it is unclear at this stage how much.

It is understood that gold was left strewn about inside the shop following the drama.

The area was sealed off and nearby roads closed as detectives and scenes of crime officers examined the scene.

Two men, aged 22 and 24, have been arrested on suspicion of robbery and remained in custody late last night.

It is believed that a black VW Golf may have been used in the robbery.

Detective Chief Inspector Jon Hoyle, of the Homicide and Major Enquiry Team, added: “We would like people to come forward who witnessed the robbery taking place and who saw a black VW Golf being used by suspects prior to and after the incident.

“Please contact the HMET team at Dudley Hill on 0845 60 60 606 or contact Crimestoppers anonymously on 0800 555 111.”

Detective Inspector Ian Bryar, of Bradford South CID, confirmed nobody had been injured in the robbery.

A nearby resident, who did not wish to be named, said: “The helicopter was hovering over the Manningham area after it happened.

“There were a lot of forensics still at the shop last night and the road was still shut off. Something pretty big had obviously gone off.”

Enquiries are currently ongoing and police said it was too early to say whether the robbery was linked to previous raids at jewellers shops in the city.

On March 8, four men brandishing guns snatched £150,000 of gold jewellery in a ramraid at Shaandar Zewar Jewellers, in Maidstone Street, Bradford Moor.

Two months later, two shots were fired from a sawn-off shotgun as raiders stole more than £100,000 of gold Asian jewellery from Chacha Jewellers, in Great Horton Road, owned by the same family.