Detectives investigating robberies by knifemen at travel agencies in Ripon and York were today quizzing eight people.

The suspects were arrested during a series of raids at 20 addresses in the Northumbria area yesterday, organised by Calder Valley detectives in conjunction with police from North Yorkshire and Northumbria.

Foreign currency and travellers' cheques were recovered during the swoops, dubbed Operation Buck.

The police raids were organised following an investigation into robberies at four Going Places travel agencies: at Halifax on February 17, at Brighouse on April 6, at Piccadilly in York on May 29, and at Ripon on June 29.

A substantial quantity of foreign currency and travellers' cheques were stolen during the robberies, and police say such items have now been traced to Holland, France, Germany, America and Spain as well as Britain.

The inquiry is being headed by Detective Chief Inspector Bob Bridgestock of Calder Valley CID.

Three horrified workers were threatened by two robbers with a knife during the incident at the Going Places in Piccadilly, York, which happened during broad daylight on May 29.

Nobody was hurt in the incident, in which the raiders, both wearing baseball caps, got away with a substantial quantity of cash.

Manager Mark Rushworth subsequently praised staff for their coolness in the face of the knifeman and his accomplice. "I'm pleased that the staff are OK and I'm proud of the way they handled it all."

Today he told how his staff had managed to get over the shock of the raid. "They have done very well," he said. "I am really pleased at how they have handled it and got over it.

"We have had a couple of sessions with a counsellor and have had a group chat about it."

The raid on Going Places offices in Ripon's Market Square, exactly one month after the York incident, bore a striking similarity, and police said then that they might be linking the two robberies.

Two robbers burst in brandishing 12-inch kitchen knives and threatened staff before making off with travellers' cheques and foreign currency. Staff were left unhurt but "very shaken."

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