Two bank robbers who raided a bank in central Greece yesterday soon found out that they had chosen the wrong village to mess with, as a group of locals, including a retired policeman, off-duty traffic officer and the mayor, hatched a plan to apprehend them.

The robbers pulled up at the branch of ATEbank in Kato Tithorea, Fthiotida, in a pickup truck and entered the building armed with a sawed-off shotgun. They forced the employees to hand over 10,000 euros in cash and then asked for the main vault to be opened. This took some 10 minutes because of the time-delay lock.

However, a kiosk owner had witnessed the events from across the street and rounded up the locals. The policeman, his retired colleague and the mayor blocked the road with their vehicles so the robbers could not drive off.

Instead, the pair was forced to try and escape on foot. Locals wrestled one of the robbers to the ground and disarmed him. The other tried to hide in a basement but was also dragged out and handed over to police.