Police were called at around 7.40pm following reports that a man entered a betting shop and threatened the staff to hand him the money from safe.  The robber then ran off with a quantity of cash in the direction of Knowle Lane.

The person is described as a short white male, skinny build, in his late teens. He was wearing black/grey hoodie, grey ski mask, blue jeans and spoke with the southern accent.

DC Michael Taylor said: “This was understandably a frightening ordeal for the staff and something they are unlikely to forget – but thankfully nobody has been injured.

“I would like to reassure the local community that we are doing all we can to trace the person involved in this incident.

“A number of enquiries are taking place and we are appealing for witnesses who were in the area at the time of the incident to contact us on 101 quoting PR/45180052678.

“There is no place for such crimes in our communities and I urge anyone with any information to come forward as soon as possible.”

Alternatively, the independent charity Crimestoppers can be contacted anonymously on 0800 555 111.