Six robbers have fled on a single moped after a smash-and-grab raid at a high-end jewellers in central London.

The gang, wielding a machete and a hammer, escaped on one bike after raiding Mappin & Webb on Regent Street, according to police.

They arrived on three scooters but abandoned one at the scene and crashed another on Oxford Street, the Metropolitan police said.

A spokesman said: “The suspects who were on that moped were then picked up before all six fled on a single remaining moped.”

Damage to the Mappin & Webb shopfront. Photograph: John Stillwell/PA

The thieves made off with a high-value haul after smashing cabinets at the store in the West End at about 7.20pm on Monday.

Witnesses tweeted pictures of the jewellers filled with smoke after the incident.

One user posted: “Smash and grab at Regent Street jewellers. All three emergency services on scene, smoke deployed in the store”, while another wrote: “Seems to have been an attempted robbery at Mappin & Web on Regent Street. Getaway vehicle appears to have been scooter.”

No arrests have been made and police are appealing for anyone with information to come forward.

Mappin & Webb was founded in 1775 and customers have included the 18th-century French queen Marie Antoinette, Grace Kelly and Winston Churchill.

Anyone with information can call the Met on 101 or Crimestoppers anonymously on 0800 555 111.