TWO masked men carried out a terrifying armed robbery bid at a Southampton bank.

The men ran in to Santander bank in Burgess Road and threatened staff with what are believed to have been hammers.

The incident happened at 10.14am this morning.

The men left the bank after making the threats empty handed and now a police hunt has been launched to track them down.

Officers are looking for a white van that was seen driving away from the scene up the Avenue towards the M27.

A spokesperson for Hampshire Police said that while nothing was taken in the raid, staff at the bank were shaken.

The bank is currently sealed off while police carry out their investigations.

The vehicle police are hunting for is described as a small white van, with a registration of YK03 FHG.

It may have two or three occupants, and has silver foil covering its rear windows, and was last seen driving northwards on The Avenue.

An international student at the University of Southampton, who lives near the bank, said he heard an alarm go off at 9.54am.

Another man, who did not want to be named, said he saw four or five police cars descend on the scene earlier, while another woman said: "It's a shock, this is my first house in Southampton."

Another man said he heard the alarms at the bank go off last week and over the weekend.

She issued an appeal for witnesses and urged anyone who knows anything about the incident or saw it to contact Hampshire Police on 101.