A GANG of robbers have been sent to custody after eagle-eyed children helped police officers track them down.

Three men and a boy wearing masks targeted the Iceland store in Prestwich on March 12 this year.

Shortly after 6pm, Kieran Hindley, aged 21, and Kain Morrison, aged 20, both of no fixed address, ran into the Longfield Centre supermarket with two accomplices, Connor Willis, aged 18, of Littleton Road, Salford, and a 17-year-old boy, who cannot be named for legal reasons.

The masked group confronted staff with claw hammers and stole £600 before running off.

Police were called to the scene and witnesses told officers the men had fled by crossing Bury New Road and heading along Warwick Street.

The men were believed to have gone into a property in Sherbourne Court, but officers lost track of them.

However, a group of young children playing had spotted where the gang went — and pointed police in the right direction.

The four offenders were arrested at the scene and each charged with robbery and possession of a claw hammer — accusations they all admitted.

At Bolton Crown Court on Friday, the three men were each sentenced to a three-year youth detention order and the boy was sentenced to a two-year youth detention order.

Due to disruptive behaviour in court, the judge ordered that each defendant be seated in the dock individually while the others waited in the cells.

After the court hearing, a Prestwich Police spokesman said: "Fortunately, the tots were in the right place at the right time and had their wits about them.

"They were a tremendous help to our officers who were in pursuit of these suspects."