Armed Santa gang rob jewellery shop

Four armed men dressed in traditional Santa outfits robbed a jewellery shop in Tirana, Albania.

The shopping centre robbery saw the thieves, all dressed in traditional Santa outfits, burst in carrying Kalashnikov semi-automatic rifles and filled their sacks with the jewellery on display.

The shop owner and his wife were also held at gunpoint, but neither was hurt.

The robbers were in the shop for less than three minutes.

They are thought to have fled the scene of the crime in a Mercedes, which they then drove off the road. The car was set alight and the thieves fled into the darkness.

It was not immediately clear whether a shoot-out involving the police which took place at about the same time near the village of Lanabregas had a connection with the robbery.

 In a statement, Tirana district police said that two of the guns used by the masked thieves had been found in a waste bin near the shop. Forensic and ballistic tests were being carried out on the weapons to see if they might yield clues.

The police added that a special unit had been set up to hunt for the Father Christmases.