Armed Clown Gang Has Last Laugh Tue Jul 16, 9:52 AM ET

LONDON (Reuters) - Police in the northern city of Manchester appealed for information on Tuesday after a gang of clowns mounted an armed raid on a wine bar.

Three men in fancy dress handcuffed a manager and threatened him with a sawn-off shotgun and a knife before escaping with what was described as "a small amount of money."

Police were not amused. "This was a highly organized team, who had obviously spent some time planning this robbery," Detective Inspector Darren Shenton said in a statement.

The gang made off in a van with police in pursuit, and managed to escape despite being involved in three accidents on the way.

Police said witnesses could not have failed to notice the robbers.

"There is no doubt that anyone walking along the road at the time the robbers were heading into or out of the building would have spotted them, especially as they were dressed as clowns," the statement said.

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I feel a ballad coming on.....

==Hagbardr