HAMMER-WIELDING thugs smashed their way into supermarkets last week in a series of calculated robberies.

In the early hours of Friday, January 13 a gang of four broke into Tesco in Martins Heron by breaking the glass door of Costa Coffee next to the repair shop Timpson.

They quickly made their way to the kiosk and cracked open the steel tills and left with a haul of cash and cigarettes in a matter of seconds.

The exact quantity of cash and the value of fags taken during the raid at 3.42am remains unknown, but a store worker who preferred to remain anonymous told the News it was in the region of £400.

“It all happened so quickly,” he said. “There was a loud banging and all of a sudden they came rushing through the door and were gone in less than a minute.

“They knew exactly what they were doing. One of the night managers shouted for everyone to get off the shop floor while he rang the police who came quite quickly.

“But by the time they got here they were gone.”

Thames Valley Police took around four minutes to respond to the incident in Whitton Road and cordoned off the kiosk and part of Costa Coffee until late afternoon.

Crime scene officers were at the store carrying out forensic examinations, taking photographs and dusting for prints where the metal barrier in front of the cigarettes cabinet was forced ajar.

The force are linking the robbery with two similar incidents in Windsor and Eton after another Tesco and a Budgens were targeted.

At around 2.28am the Tesco in Dedworth Road, Windsor was also broken into but the details around the robbery are scarce at present, police said.

It followed another robbery in Eton on January 12 at around 10.40pm where the offenders forced open the front door at Budgens in the High Street.

“Offenders broke into the store and tried to access the tills and the cash machine,” said detective inspector Jason Kew.

“It was fortunate that nobody was in the building at the time of the break-in.”

It is unknown what was taken during the burglary but officers spoke to staff members to try and ascertain what, if anything, was stolen.

Members of the public also reported on Facebook that Morrisons at The Peel Centre was also targeted, but this is yet to be substantiated.

When a reporter from the News went to the store in Skimped Hill Lane, the front doors were being replaced and shards of glass were on the floor.

But the store manager denied claims the store was broken into, insisting: “The doors are being replaced due to wear and tear, nothing untoward happened.”

The getaway vehicle used was a small dark hatchback, police said.

Anyone with information should call 101.