Armed robber in raid on shop

Detectives are hunting a gunman who threatened a terrified shop assistant before stealing over £200 in cash from a Rugeley store.

Rukhsana Chowdhury, aged 28, was serving customers at the U Save Lifestyle Express shop on Redbrook Lane, Brereton, yesterday afternoon.

At around 12.15pm, when the shop was empty, a man entered the store wearing a balaclava. He closed the door behind him and pulled out a handgun from his pocket and threatened Mrs Chowdhury demanding she hand over cash. He reached over the counter and stole the cash cash before fleeing.

Police recovered an imitation firearms nearby.

Store owner Amarjit Klair, 26, runs the shop with her husband Bhupinder Klair who had gone to buy goods for the store at the time of the robbery. She said: "We took over the shop in July and this is the first time we have had anything like this. The previous owners were here for 25 years and never had this happen. It's really shocking," she added.