A PETROL station employee has been assaulted by three masked men who forced him to open the till before they raided the rest of the shop.

During the terrifying ordeal at Chiseldon Service Station the men, who hid their faces with scarves and dust masks, also smashed open the cigarette kiosk stealing thousands of pounds worth of goods.

More than a hundred pounds was stolen from the till.

Wiltshire Police has now released CCTV images of three men during the incident, which happened at 1.15am on Tuesday, March 1, who they would like to speak to.

They are also appealing for witnesses who may have information to the aggravated burglary.

A police spokesman said: “Four unknown males arrived in an Audi A6. Three of them entered the service station where they stole a large quantity of cigarettes, thousands of pounds worth, from the display cabinet behind the counter.

“During the burglary a member of staff was escorted around the premises and forced to open the till where an amount of cash, just over a hundred pounds, was also stolen.

“The staff member was also physically assaulted during the incident. Luckily they were not seriously injured.”

The men are described as:

Male 1: white, stocky build, 5' 7" tall, wearing a dark grey hooded top with ATHELETIC written in white down the right sleeve and a large white motif which says 1985 Brooklyn Sports on the front. The hood was up and he had a dark scarf over his face. He was also wearing dark blue jogging bottoms and black sports shoes.

Male 2: slightly shorter than male 1, wearing a black hooded top with a white zip, black jogging bottoms, dark shoes and yellow gloves. He was wearing a white dust mask over his face and his hood, which was up.

Male 3: wearing the same dark grey hooded top with the same white motif on the front, dark jogging bottoms with grey or green and white sports shoes.

Detective Constable Clare Wyness said: "Two CCTV images are attached of three men we would like to speak to in connection with the incident.

"Wiltshire Police are seeking information which can help us in our investigations of this crime.

“If you can help in anyway please contact me on 101. Alternatively, you can call Crimestoppers anonymously on 0800 555 111 with information."