A TOP detective warned last night that the robbers who terrified shoppers in a Newport city centre street are dangerous men who are likely to strike again.

And police say the life of a security guard who was shot may have been saved by a member of the public who gave him first aid.

Officers also praised another man for his "bravery" in trying to help the security guard during the raid by masked men outside the Halifax bank on Commercial Street yesterday morning.

Police say the 55-year-old guard, who has worked for Securicor for some time and is understood to be from north- west Gwent, is lucky to be alive after he was shot in the thigh with a handgun.

His condition at the city's Royal Gwent Hospital is described as stable and his injuries at this stage are not thought to be life-threatening.

The man who went to his aid received a blow to the head during a scuffle with the gang inside the bank, where one gunshot was thought to be fired. The man is not believed to have received a serious injury.

At a Press conference yesterday Detective Superintendent Geoff Ronayne said: "We are grateful to the individual who assisted the security guard. He was very brave.

"He was trying to help someone who was being attacked by men who were quite clearly armed.

"These are dangerous men who have no qualms about shooting someone. I'm certain they are going to attack again."

He said "it was more by luck than by judgement" that the security guard was still alive.

"There was a considerable element of planning and I suspect these men have been in Newport before," Det Supt Ronayne added.

He said police are keeping an open mind as to whether the gang are local or not, adding Gwent Police were liaising with other forces and "looking throughout the UK".

Detectives say they are hunting for three or possibly four men who stole what is described as a "substantial sum of money" in security boxes before escaping in a blue or black Mitsubishi vehicle.

The gang, wearing balaclavas or some type of headgear, was made up of either two or three black men and one white man, and the raid took place in only two to three minutes.

Police say the raid was planned and armed police were scrambled to the scene.

Petrified shoppers, including elderly people and children, were forced to dive for safety into shop doorways as the car sped away.

Police said there was no car chase at any point, and the robbers' last known whereabouts was on the Old Green roundabout, near Newport Castle.

Last night forensic teams were examining a security box thrown from the car.

Detectives were last night studying CCTV footage for clues and trying to determine the car's model and registration number. Commercial Street was cordoned off and the forensic team was carrying out searches.

THE TWO AND HALF MINUTES OF TERROR

TERROR first came to Newport's streets when the sound of a car screeching along Commercial Street at speed was heard by shoppers.

It was just after 10.45am yesterday and people were forced to jump out of the way of the car before it came suddenly to a halt outside the Halifax where the Securicor van was already parked.

The robbers jumped out of the car, which witnesses said was a black Mitsubishi Evo VII. One was 6ft tall, eyewitnesses said, and one around 5ft tall.

Detective Superintendent Ronayne said: "What we know is that the security van pulled up outside the Halifax at 10.45am. It was making a delivery."

A number of boxes containing money were being carried inside.

Det Supt Ronayne said: "The security guard got out and the Mitsubishi drove alongside and a number of men got out and made their way inside." Officers say it is believed that three men (two black, one white) demanded money from the guard who had just entered the premises.

Police said a gun was believed to have been fired inside the bank.

"A member of the public came to the assistance of the security guard and was attacked himself," Det Supt Ronayne said. "There was an initial scuffle and the security guard was dragged outside." He was then shot outside the building.

Screaming shoppers ran for cover.

Terrified parents grabbed their children, and some people took cover in nearby shops and building societies.

The robbers made off in the car at speed along Commercial Street, then into Skinner Street.

People were forced to jump for cover.

Some eyewitnesses said it was a miracle that no one was killed then.

The car disappeared at the Old Green roundabout near Newport Castle. It was just two and a half minutes after the robbery began.

Police say they are not sure which way the car then went, or whether it went on to the nearby M4.