VIDEO: Robber holds knife to face of terrified worker

The man ordered the woman to leave the till open so he could help himself to cash at Pound Foods in Market Square.

And when store manager Steve Barras emerged from the warehouse after hearing her screams, the raider menacingly told him: "Don't be a tough guy."

Mr Barras said: "A guy came in just before 12pm and he pulled a knife on the cashier. He demanded the money from the till.

"I came from the warehouse. I'd heard her screaming. I'd gone to get her a drink.

"I didn't hear what he said, but my colleague said he told me: 'Don't be a tough guy.' I just told her to open the till and let him take the money.

"We're not sure how much money he got but it's into the hundreds."

CCTV footage from inside the shop shows the raider checking left and right before walking in and brandishing the knife and holding it just inches away from the petrified cashier.

She opens the till before moving to the side, allowing the knifeman to empty all the notes from the cash register.

Mr Barras arrives on the scene but the man continues emptying the till, before closing it and walking out of the shop.

Luckily, nobody was hurt in the raid but the cashier was sent home, shaken after her frightening ordeal.

"The lady working on the till went home, she was pretty shaken. I don't expect we'll see her back at work for at least a few days," Mr Barras added.

Forensics were on the scene dusting for prints on Wednesday and Mr Barras says the police are hopeful it could help find the robber, who took a glove off to take the cash and close the till.

He said: "He actually took his glove off to get the money out. He even closed the till for us which was very kind of him.

"He did that with his hand that didn't have the glove on."

The culprit disguised himself well but Mr Barras is hoping the images and his description could help jog memories of people who might have seen him.

He added: "He was wearing a black puffer jacket and Nike trainers. He was only a short guy.

"Fortunately, there were no customers in the store at the time, one had just left a moment before he came in so I don't know if he saw anything.

"It was quite shocking, you don't expect something like that to happen when you go to work.

"You hear of these things happening in petrol stations and other shops, but we've never had anything more than the odd shoplifter since I've been here. Never anything as serious as this."

After remaining closed throughout Wednesday, the shop reopened as usual yesterday morning.

West Midlands Police spokeswoman Kate Baker, said: "We were called at around 11.45am.

"The offender is described as a black man, 5ft 8ins, of thin build and wearing black clothing, a black hood and black woolly hat.

"He walked in and threatened the staff member with a knife, demanding that they open the till. We don't know at this stage how much has been taken."

Anyone with information should call police on 101.