Staff at intu Watford say they feel "unsafe" after masked men armed with sledge hammers carried out a smash and grab burglary only hours after another store was broken into.

Police were called to SWAG in the intu Shopping centre just before 10am on Tuesday after thieves shattered the display window in an attempted burglary.

Security guard for Primark, Godfrey Aidoo, who witnessed the incident, said: "I heard this loud noise - bang, bang, bang - I looked into the mall and saw intu guards running towards the Queens Way entrance.

"I turned and saw a group of five guys, three of them were holding huge hammers and they were coming out of the other entrance, by SWAG."

Mr Aidoo added that one of the thieves smashed one of the entrance doors with the hammer, whilst they were getting away and two of them left the hammers there.

He said: "Three of them grabbed their bikes and headed down the underpass towards the YMCA building. The other two could not get their bikes so were running in the same direction."

A shop worker who asked to remain anonymous said: "This is ridiculous. This is the second robbery now - the guys used sledge hammers to try and break in.

"The centre is fantastic but the thieves need to stop - they are making everyone, especially those of us that work here, feel unsafe."

Less than 12 hours earlier, thousands of pounds worth of Tag Heuer watches were stolen from the Beaverbrooks store in the shopping centre in another burglary.

One man, James Hastings, 57, of Carew Road, Northwood, has been arrested and charged with the burglary, which took place at 11.40pm on Monday.

He appeared at Hatfield Remand Court on Wednesday, where he was remanded in custody and will now appear at St Albans Crown Court.

In a statement, intu Watford confirmed that the police were investigating a burglary that took place at the centre. They said: "No-one was hurt during the incident and we're open as usual."

intu offered no reassurance to staff or customers about the centre's security and whether or not they plan to increase it following these incidents.

Three men were originally arrested in connection with the incident on Tuesday morning - two in Park Avenue and one in Haydon Road.

Two men have been charged with burglary - Alexandru Zanoaga, 25, and Mihai-Alexandru Codreanu, 20, both of no fixed address appeared at Hatfield Remand Court yesterday (Thursday). The third man arrested has been released.

Police are now appealing for witnesses to trace the other three believed to have been involved.

Detective Inspector Jason Keane said: “At the time of this incident there were a number of members of the public in the area however, many people left the centre prior to police arrival and therefore are yet to speak with us about what they saw.

“Some witnesses who we have already spoken to described seeing a group of people allegedly entering the shopping centre from the Queens Road entrance at about 9.50am on bikes and foot.

"They were believed to be wearing face coverings and had large sledge hammers with them."

Herts police believe the burglars changed their appearance after fleeing from intu Watford and are asking if anyone has seen these individuals without their face coverings.

Anyone with any information is asked to contact the police on 101 quoting crime reference C1/15/3571.