THREE robbers linked to the St Tropez shooting in Durban two years ago were shot dead in a fierce shoot-out with the police on Sunday night.

THREE robbers linked to the St Tropez shooting in Durban two years ago were shot dead in a fierce shoot-out with the police on Sunday night.

Police spokesperson Superintendent Vincent Mdunge said the trio were robbing the Cockie Jack Bar in Berea when police surprised them.

Mdunge said the men had held up staff and customers at gunpoint at about 10pm.

"When the police approached the suspects saw them and opened fire," Mdunge said.

"The officers retaliated and fatally wounded all three suspects. It was later established that the men were being sought for the St Tropez shooting and the police had been looking for them for the past two years.

"It is believed that they only targeted restaurants."

Mdunge said a shotgun, 9mm pistol and revolver were recovered.

He said the organised crime unit had been trying to track down the St Tropez suspects for a long time.

In 2007 Marc Joubert was with his friends at a 30th birthday party at the St Tropez, a sidewalk cafe in Essenwood Road, when six armed robbers surprised patrons and demanded cash and jewellery from them.

Joubert was killed when the robbers opened fire after patrons panicked and made a run for the restaurant's exit.

Later that year the police shot dead an armed man, Rusta Msisi, and arrested another linked to the St Tropez crime.

Msisi is believed to have been the ringleader of a gang that targeted restaurants in the Musgrave, Berea and Glenwood areas.

He was also suspected of being Joubert's killer. The three men killed in the shoot-out on Sunday night were from the KwaMashu area.