Thieves took advantage of most of the country's interest in Greece's Euro 2008 soccer match on Saturday night to strike at a national road tollbooth in Elefsina, west of Athens, and make off with 120,000 euros in cash.

Police said it was the first time that such a robbery had taken place in Greece. They added that the robbers appeared well informed about the workings of the tollbooth on the Athens-Corinth national road and made their move just at the time that the shifts were changing.

After threatening staff with handguns, they grabbed the cash and made off on motorcycles.

While making their escape, the robbers dumped a sledgehammer, which they had not needed to use as the door to the office containing the money had been left open.

Police said that there are no CCTV cameras at the toll station and that it is not patrolled by any private security firm. A traffic police car had been stationed on the other side of the national road but by the time the officers were called over, the robbers had vanished.