6:00pm Thursday 22nd March 2012
A knife-wielding armed robber escaped with £500 from a newsagents in Corsham on Monday night.
The male robber entered Oakleys, in Pickwick Road, shortly before 9pm and produced a knife around 10 inches long, before threatening two female shop workers who are sisters, aged 17 and 18.
He reportedly said: “I’m being serious, I’ve got a ****ing knife. Put the money in the bag.”
The staff handed over the cash and the man left with it in a white carrier bag.
Police have described the man as white, about 5ft 6in tall, of slim build, wearing a dark hooded top with the word ‘lifeguard’ in pink lettering and dark tracksuit bottoms.
Shop owner Dawn Oakley said that her till was fuller than normal because someone had come in to pay a rent bill. She said: “It’s a bit unfortunate that people came in to pay their rent bills that evening.
“It is something you think will never happen. Of course it does happen but you don’t think it will happen in Corsham. It’s stressful and it’s obviously not helpful.
“You don’t want your staff to feel threatened. They’re both strong characters. I don’t know another way in which they could have dealt with it. They did the right thing. They remained calm and phoned the police and then called me. They didn’t go to pieces.
“For two young people it’s quite a commendable thing.
“I’m really not sure what else we could have done. If someone is determined to rob you they are going to do it. We have 24-hour CCTV.”
Police have launched an appeal to find the person responsible. Investigating officer DC Jo Chesshire said: “This was a frightening incident for the staff and fortunately no one was injured.
“We are pursuing a number of lines of enquiry to identify the offender.”
Anyone with information is asked to contact DC Jo Chesshire at Wiltshire Police by calling 101.
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