Police in Brazil are hunting two bank robbers who wrapped themselves up in tin foil in a bizarre attempt to fool its alarm system.

The daring ruse worked and the alarm didn't sound - but an armed police response unit was mobilised after they were picked up moving around inside the bank in their odd disguises on a central CCTV monitoring system.

An accomplice believed to have been acting as a lookout was arrested - but the two men whose faces were hidden under their head-to-toe disguise got away.

Police in Brazil are hunting these two bank robbers who wrapped themselves up in tin foil in a bizarre attempt to fool its alarm system

They were still on the run today although police said they had not got away with any cash.

Police released pictures of the men crawling around the bank floor - looking more like spacemen than robbers - although they might have been the first to admit they wouldn't be easily recognisable without their disguises.

The pair left several items at the scene in their hurry to get away including blowtorches they are believed to have planned to use to force open a safe, although the tin foil they wrapped themselves in was nowhere to be found.

They are believed to have fled the scene in a white sports car.

The daring ruse worked and the alarm didn't sound - but an armed police response unit was mobilised after they were picked up moving around inside the bank in their odd disguises on a central CCTV monitoring system

The daring crime happened in the early hours of yesterday morning/Saturday morning at Banco do Brasil in Praia Grande in the southern state of Santa Catarina.

A local police spokesman said: 'They wanted to make sure the alarms didn't detect their presence by using the tin foil but staff at the bank's CCTV control HQ saw them moving around and alerted police.