A woman counting the takings at a registered club on the NSW mid-north coast has been held up and forced to open the safe by four men armed with a brick, a crowbar and a bat.
Police say shortly before 9pm (AEDT) on Sunday the 56-year-old woman was counting money after closing time at the Nambucca club when she heard breaking glass.
She was confronted by the four men and when she tried to call triple zero she had the phone ripped from her hand.
She was then forced to a rear office and made to open the safe before the men fled with the cash.
A police dog later tracked a scent along a nearby street and several items from the robbery were found and seized for forensic testing but the four men have not yet been found.
