ARMED robbers burst through a shop door and threatened to shoot members of staff yesterday.

The two men ordered the workers to lay down on the ground before demanding to be let in the back of the store.

Once the robbers were inside they moved towards the back of the shop and took several mobile phones and a laptop.

One of the men tried to restrain the employees inside Carphone Warehouse, Earley, but his efforts were thwarted.

They also took the phones belonging to the employees during the robbery on Tuesday evening.

Yasmine Chaudhry, store manager at Johnsons dry cleaners, which sits opposite the phone store in London Road, near Shepherd's Hill roundabout, said the incident was the second break-in in the area this week.

She said: "I wasn't here when it happened last night but my colleague sent me a message.

"She said she was serving and they saw the police.

"They came in and asked if she had seen anybody suspicious.

"We had an attempted break in on Monday. They didn't come into the shop but they broke the lock out the back."

The two men, one carrying a hammer and one carrying a weapon concealed in a cloth, fled the store and headed across the roundabout towards PamPurred Pets.

They were last spotted behind Johnsons dry cleaners.

Detectives want to speak to anybody who witnessed the ordeal between 5.45 pm and 6.15pm, and have described the men as wearing dark clothing.

Detective Inspector Nick Watts, of Reading CID, said: "One was carrying a hammer and the other man was carrying another weapon wrapped in a cloth. There were two members of staff in the store at the time. They were told to lie down on the floor and one offender tried to restrain them but failed.

"Offenders threatened to shoot the staff and demanded to be let into the back of the store.

"This was obviously a deeply upsetting experience for the staff who were fortunately uninjured during the robbery."