Robbers have smoko before bar raid

Armed robbers at a Christchurch bar early yesterday shared a cigarette at gunpoint with the bar's security guard after he was unable to let them in.

Three masked men, armed with a pistol, knife and tyre iron, confronted two staff members and two patrons at the Bedrock Bar in Addington just as the bar closed about 3am.

They took about 20 minutes to steal alcohol, cigarettes and up to $20,000 from the bar's takings and gaming machines.

The robbers, who appeared to target the gaming takings, nabbed the security guard as he crossed a carpark while the bar was being closed up, said Bedrock Bar owner and manager Craig Saville.

The guard did not have keys to get back into the bar, and was held at gunpoint outside for about 10 minutes by the men, described as Maori or Pacific Islanders in their late teens or early 20s.

"While he was out there, he asked if he could have a cigarette. So they were out there, the four of them, having a cigarette together," Mr Saville said.

The robbers got into the bar only when the duty manager, who was going to do some painting after the bar closed, went out to his car to get some drop sheets for the floor.

The men locked the four victims in the toilet while they robbed the bar, then locked them in a bottle store before fleeing. The victims were shaken but unharmed.

The men were wearing hoodies and had covered their faces with scarves.

- NZPA