Farmfoods staff shaken after armed robbery at east Hull store

A MAN with a knife pushed a store manager to the ground during an armed robbery at a food store in east Hull.

Staff were left shaken after the robber entered Farmfoods in Holderness Road on Saturday evening and ordered the victim to stuff cash into a holdall.

He is believed to have pushed the manager to the ground and threatened him before stealing about £800 from the safe, along with the manager's mobile phone and the office keys.

A regular customer at the store said the man came in asking for a job application form and there was a manager in his 20s in the store, along with a female teenage shop assistant on the shop floor.

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The customer said: "The robber followed the manager into the back of the store and pulled a knife on him before ripping the office phone out of its socket.

"He took the contents of the safe along with the shop keys and demanded the manager's mobile phone."

The Farmfoods store closes at about 6pm on a Saturday and most of the takings had been counted and locked in the safe before the robber came in at about 5.15pm.

The woman said: "The shop assistant is believed to have called the police from her mobile after the robber ran out of the door and some of the customers saw him.

"Everyone has been left quite shocked by it all happening on our doorstep.

"You hear of robberies where a till is snatched and there was one just the other week but nothing like this.

"It's very scary and I'm glad I wasn't in the shop at the time."

The store's manager is now off work recovering from the ordeal at home.

Humberside Police say they are investigating the robbery at the frozen food store after being called just after 5.20pm on Saturday.

When officers arrived, customers were told to dump their shopping and leave the store before staff were interviewed about the robbery.

A police spokesman said: "As the staff member went to obtain an application form for the jobseeker, the man was reported to have followed the employee into the rear of the premises, making demands for money.

"It is alleged that the man, who was reported to have been carrying an orange coloured holdall, then instructed the staff member to place money from the safe into the holdall.

"The victim complied with the request, as he believed the assailant to be carrying a weapon.

"He also reported being threatened to hand over a personal mobile phone.

"The assailant is reported to have left the premises with an amount of cash and the mobile phone."

Detective Superintendent Scott Young said after the crime, officers undertook "prompt investigations."

He said: "We are now proactively following lines of inquiry and are confident this will result in a positive conclusion.

"We would like to reassure the public that incidents of this nature are always treated seriously and investigated as a priority."

Farmfoods declined to comment on the robbery but the company is working closely with police.

Anyone who has any information is asked to contact Humberside Police on the non-emergency number 101 quoting log number 475 of December 1.

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