Watch masked burglars smash up Manchester casino during Christmas Day raid

This is the moment a gang of masked men burgled the Grosvenor Casino in Manchester during an audacious raid on Christmas Day.

The men forced their way into the casino, off Bury New Road, at about 9pm and made away with a "substantial" amount of betting chips, police said.

CCTV footage from inside the casino shows the gang smashing the reinforced glass of the cashier's office with a sledgehammer for about 20 minutes, before gaining entry.

They can be heard shouting to each other as alarms sound in the background.

The gang were said by police to have stolen a substantial amount of betting chips in a variety of denominations, ranging from £25 to £1,000.

Officers did not reveal the total amount taken by the thieves.

Before leaving they can be seen spraying an unknown substance onto the crime scene, which detectives believe was an attempt to destroy forensic evidence.

The men were all wearing gloves and balaclavas. One was wearing a light hooded top, while the three others were wearing dark coloured hoodies.

Detective Constable Saj Sardar, of Greater Manchester Police, said: "We have released this CCTV in the hope that it might trigger someone's memory.

"This happened on Christmas night, so the offenders would have likely left family and friends to carry out this burglary.

"Someone must have information about it and I would urge you to come forward."

Anyone with information is asked to call police on 101 or if you want to remain anonymous, you can call Crimestoppers on 0800 555 111. You should quote incident number 706 of 26 December 2016.