Raiders hit The Picture House in Stafford

Burglars raided a Stafford town centre pub, emptying cash from the games machines.

Raiders broke in through the back of The Picture House in Bridge Street at 3.40am yesterday. They escaped with an undisclosed amount of cash.

The pub, which usually opens at 8am, was forced to remain closed until 10am while scenes of crime officers carried out an investigation inside.

Manager Dave Blomley, aged 32, said: "I've been here two years and this has not happened before. I have heard of other pubs on the M6 corridor being hit.

"All the money taken was from the games machines. It's resulted in minimal damage – they managed to force a door"

The Picture House is part of the JD Wetherspoon pub group and opened in 1995.