West Midlands Police officers have launched an investigation after armed robbers car-jacked a Ford Mondeo in Stourbridge last night and drove off with two women in the back.

The females, aged 88 and 37, were dumped on the roadside several yards further on after the gang realised they had unwanted passengers, before the car sped off towards Lye.

The drama unfolded when the masked men raided One Stop convenience store on Hungary Hill just after 9pm. They ran from the store to their waiting vehicle, which stalled, so the crooks turned to the Mondeo as the family stopped to use a cashpoint. The same men had also raided the Co-op in Glebe Lane, Norton less than an hour before. On both occasions they threatened staff with hammers and stolen cash and cigarettes.

The stolen vehicle was recovered a short while later in Bromley Street, Lye, and that and the abandoned car, a silver Volkswagen Golf, are both being forensically examined. Officers are trawling through CCTV to see if there is any detail to help identify the men.

Anyone with information can call Police on 101 or Crimestoppers, anonymously, on 0800 555 111.