STORE workers were today warned to avoid attempting acts of bravery against armed raiders responsible for a series of robberies in Suffolk.Police investigating a spate of armed robberies today said they believed there was more than one gang operating in East Anglia.

STORE workers were today warned to avoid attempting acts of bravery against armed raiders responsible for a series of robberies in Suffolk.

Police investigating a spate of armed robberies today said they believed there was more than one gang operating in East Anglia.

Detective Sergeant Graham Moss, of Suffolk police, has now warned workers not to stand up to the “dangerous” offenders.

His comments came as the four-strong team investigates ten incidents, including armed robberies, ram raids and a break in, that have happened in the last two months - with an average of one a week in Suffolk.

In the latest incident, in Birch Drive, Brantham, on Wednesday night balaclava-clad robbers brandishing a wrench and a broom handle held up a Co-op store.

Staff were threatened and forced to open the till and safe. They were not injured but were left shaken.

A silver Subaru GL car stolen earlier in the evening from Crossfields, Stoke by Nayland, was found abandoned in Church Lane, Brantham. It is believed the offenders may have used this vehicle.

While Det Sgt Moss said there were links between some of the offences, he added it was unlikely they had been committed by the same people.

He said: “Obviously there are certain links that we are investigating, such as the clothing, ammo, the vehicles used in these types of offences, but it is not to say it is the same people on each occasion.”

However he revealed the same offenders were thought to be behind raids in Newmarket, Barrow and a Post Office in Cambridgeshire on Tuesday.

Det Sgt Moss described the incidents, which have seen robbers armed with weapons such as a shotgun, monkey wrench, crowbar and baseball bat, as “very frightening” and traumatic for the victims.

He said: “My advice would be not to have a go and to comply with anything that they request. They are dangerous people.

“At the present, there have not been any serious injuries but the trauma that is caused by these events cannot be dismissed. It must be very frightening.”

He said the spate of incidents was the worst since Operation Arctic, a campaign launched to stop a rising tide of robberies and ram raids on businesses during 2004 and 2005, which saw police investigate around 150 incidents across the region.