A COMMUNITY bowling club in Lalor has been held up by armed bandits five times in the past eight months.
Some staff at the Lalor Bowling Club are on stress leave or seeing psychiatrists to help them deal with the shock.
The grassroots club, which has an average membership age of 70, has been forced to pay $2000 for new security measures.
New security doors leading to the gaming room, which were installed in November, averted a sixth attempted robbery, according to club president Lee Webb.
Mr Webb said the robberies had been extremely traumatic for staff, some of whom had a gun held to their head during two incidents.
“They come barging through the doors wearing balaclavas, with a sawn-off double barrel shot gun, screaming and swearing obscenities,” Mr Webb said.
Thieves had gleaned “a considerable amount of money” in the five separate robberies, but Mr Webb would not say how much.
He said he was more concerned about the emotional impact on staff and patrons.
No-one had been physically hurt during the raids, he said.
Taskforce Sampson is investigating a spate of 33 armed robberies at gaming venues across the northern suburbs since June last year, including the Lalor robberies.
Head of the taskforce Detective Superintendent Kevin Sheridan said a $50,000 reward had flushed out “considerable” information which had helped police investigations.
