Two men who tried to smash their way into a town centre shop at the weekend were foiled by a woman who looked out of her window in the middle of the night.

She saw them swinging a heavy object against the large plate glass window of the Woolworths store in Market Place, Barnard Castle, Co Durham.

She opened her window and shouted at them - and they immediately ran to a car before driving off at speed, taking the battering object with them.

The woman called police within seconds of the incident at 3.17am on Saturday, but officers found no trace of the getaway car, a white saloon which looked fairly new.

Acting Sergeant Tom Vance said yesterday: "We can only assume that the men were trying to break in to steal. The object they used was so heavy that it took two of them to swing it against the window.

"The local resident who saw them shouted, and they fled right away, leaving a hole in the glass. They might possibly have been trying to damage the window as an act of vandalism, but it seems unlikely."

Store manager Christine Waldock said it was possible the culprits were trying to get at a large number of CDs which were on display just inside the 6ft by 10ft window, which was replaced by a new one yesterday.

She added: "I am grateful to the person who spotted them and made them stop." The raiders were both described as being white and aged 17-20, with dark hair.

One was wearing a dark sweat shirt with a white emblem on the back, and dark trousers. The other had a white or cream sweat shirt and faded jeans.

The car, which the witness thought sounded like an automatic, turned into Newgate and made off towards the Bowes Museum. Anyone who knows about the incident is asked to ring Acting Sgt Vance on 0845-6060365.