Padiham off licence held up by knifeman

8:50am Wednesday 23rd July 2008

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THE robbery of an off licence which was held up by a masked man armed with a knife is being linked to a similar raid.

A balaclava-clad attacker entered the off-licence, formerly known as Bobbie’s, in Hapton Road, Padiham, at around 5.15pm on Monday and threatened the female shop worker.

Police said they believed the robber has also struck at the nearby Padiham Stores off-license, in Hill Street, last month.

In Monday’s raid the robber threatened 57-year-old Pauline Harvey with a six-inch knife and ordered her to fill his carrier bag with the contents of the till.

After the raid, Mrs Harvey said that the thief, who escaped with £55 in cash, was ‘a coward’.

She said: “I had just finished putting the stock away and sat down to have a five minute break to do my crossword when he walked in. It was a nice yesterday afternoon, so the door was open.

“The whole thing probably only lasted a couple of minutes but I was very shook-up. When he showed me the knife and said he would use it if I didn’t open the till, I believed him.

“There was only about £55 in the till because the owner had just been in to empty it. If I see it starting to mount-up, I tend to empty it anyway. I’d never been involved in anything like it before.”

Last month, in a similar incident, a 21-year-old female shop assistant at the nearby Padiham Stores off-license, in Hill Street, was held at knifepoint by a balaclava-clad white male, who also demanded that she place money in a carrier bag.

Police believe there is a strong chance that the two could be linked.

Mrs Harvey, who returned to work the following morning, added: “He must be a coward because he only seems go for shops where women work. He wasn’t bothered about the wines or cigarettes and just wanted money so he probably wanted it for drugs.”

The robber, who was described as a white male, dressed in a shiny black zip-up tracksuit top, stone-wash denim jeans and white trainers, was last seen running down the alley between Wheat Street and Oat Street in the direction of Thompson Street.

He is believed to have removed the black balaclava immediately on leaving the shop.

Det Cons John McNamara said: “This was another particularly nasty attack on a lone female. We have a team who are working hard on the incident and are appealing to anyone who was in the area at around 5.15pm and might have witnessed something to come forward.”

Anyone with information should contact Burnley CID on 01282 472240.