THE armed robbers who stole £200,000 worth of designer watches in a raid on a jewellery arcade swapped from a car to a van before fleeing along the motorway, it has emerged.

Details of the robbers' getaway were released by police yesterday as dozens of motorists and pedestrians were quizzed at the scene where the car used to take them away from the scene of the crime was dumped.

The four balaclava-clad men, armed with sledgehammers and axes, took just 54 seconds on September 24 to smash open window display cases at Argyll Arcade in Glasgow and escape with the haul of watches from Rox, with one of the timepieces alone worth £23,000.

They then drove off from Queen Street in a white Volkswagen Golf, stolen overnight from outside a house in Haddington, East Lothian, before abandoning it in Castle Street, near the Glasgow Royal Infirmary.

Detectives believe they then got into a Vauxhall Combo van, which was last seen heading east along the M8 towards Edinburgh.

Detective Inspector Alasdair Barlow said: "Our enquiries are progressing well and we've had a very good response from the public, including vital mobile phone footage and excellent CCTV from business and public space.

"We now know that the men involved had access to a white Volkswagen Golf hatchback which they used to get away from the scene of the crime.

"Witness reports say that they drove at excessive speed from Queen Street, up Ingram Street and up to High Street, often driving on the wrong side of the road.

"However, we also know that they had access to a Vauxhall Combo van.

"It is known at this time that they abandoned the Volkswagen in Castle Street shortly after the robbery and then left in the Vauxhall van, last seen driving on to the M8 towards Edinburgh."

Shoppers watched in terror as the armed gang staged a brazen raid on jewellery shops in Buchanan Street at about 12.50pm. Video footage posted by witnesses on YouTube showed masked men running through the arcade in a cloud of smoke, which had been set off by the shops' security systems.

Rox, Mappin and Webb, Laing the Jeweller and Lewis Grant were targeted in the incident.

Eighteen watches worth £197,100 were stolen from Rox, while three were damaged, taking the total to about £229,000 including the damage, police said.

The timepieces stolen include a Hublot Big Bang Rose Gold Automatic Watch worth £23,000 and a Hublot King Power Unico Black Magic Watch valued at £16,600.

A security guard sustained a leg injury during the raid.

Exactly a week on from the robbery, officers yesterday pulled over motorists and stopped pedestrians in the Castle Street area, in a bid to glean vital clues.

Mr Barlow said the Volkswagen Golf had been stolen from an address in Haddington just a few hours before the robbery and he appealed for anyone from East Lothian who had seen the car earlier to come forward.

He added: "Similarly, I'd like to speak to anyone who may have seen a Vauxhall Combo or the Volkswagen in the Glasgow area prior to the robbery and just after."

The four suspects, all white, are described as about 5ft 8in with slim builds.