IT IS not your average getaway vehicle.

Cheeky thieves opted for two wheels rather than four as they escaped from a smash-and-grab raid on a Southampton bar – on their bikes.

With the safe containing £2,000 lodged under his arm, one of the raiders managed to cycle away from the crime scene one handed with accomplices in tow.

The trio used pedal power to escape from Oasis Bar in Southampton after they wrenched a safe from a wall in a room inside.

The three men were captured on CCTV breaking into the bar, which is in an alleyway off Castle Way.

They are all described as white and in their early 20s. They were seen climbing over a low wall to the building where two of them helped the third clamber up a wall and into a window.

Once inside they caused £500 of damage when they ripped the safe out of an office just after 7am on Monday.

All three men then rode off on bicycles. One left first followed by the other two a couple of minutes later. They cycled along Bernard Street, one with the black safe tucked under his arm.

A man who happened to be parking his car nearby heard the alarm sounding and saw the men on their bikes, one of whom threatened to stab him if he tried to stop them.

The witness instead called police but the trio had fled by the time they arrived.

A Hampshire police spokesman said: “We are now appealing for witnesses to the burglary and are asking for anyone who saw the men in the area or making off to contact us.

“The burglary took place in a part of the city that is busy with commuters at that time of day and we believe someone might remember seeing them particularly as it would have been an unusual sight to see a man on a bike with a safe under his arm.”

Officers have released CCTV of the suspects and are also asking for anyone who recognises the men are to contact them.

Anyone with information is asked to contact Detective Constable Vicki Boddy at Shirley Police Station on 101 or call Crimestoppers anonymously on 0800 555 111.