Thomson staff ‘incredibly shaken’ following armed robbery
Police are appealing for witnesses to an armed robbery at a Thomson travel agency in Hillsborough on Wednesday.
Detectives say staff were ‘incredibly shaken’ after being threatened by two men, one holding what is believed to have been a sawn-off shotgun.
The other had used what has been described as a sledgehammer to smash through the front door of the agency in Middlewood Road.
Police said at around 5.30pm, a stolen, black Volkswagon Polo pulled up outside the Thomson shop.
One man smashed the glass door and reached through to unlock it and the two men entered.
"They both threatened staff and demanded cash from the safe. The driver left the store and pulled back up moments later in the Polo and beeped the horn. The man then ran from the shop with a substantial amount of cash and got into the vehicle," said South Yorkshire police.
The car then sped off onto Holme Lane and towards the Loxley and Stannington areas.
DC Rob Lewis investigating said: "This is an extremely distressing incident for the staff involved, who thankfully were not injured but are understandably, incredibly shaken by what has happened.
"Both men wore dark coloured clothing, hooded tops with the hoods up and they both had their faces partially covered.
"We are determined to apprehend the two men responsible, and have already made numerous enquiries into the robbery and we are looking at CCTV footage to further develop any leads, but I would please ask the public for any help or information they can provide to assist with investigation."
The black Polo, registration number LM66 GVU, had been previously stolen in a burglary on 14 August from the Fulwood area.
Anyone with information is asked to call Crimestoppers anonymously on 0800 555111.
A spokeswoman for Thomson said: "We can confirm that we are assisting the police with their enquiries following an incident at our Thomson store in Sheffield on 16th August 2017 where thankfully no customers or staff were injured.
"We’ve been providing support to our team who were in the store at the time and we will continue to assist in every way possible.
"As this incident is subject to a police investigation we are unable to comment further."
Bev
Editor in chief Bev Fearis has been a travel journalist for 25 years. She started her career at Travel Weekly, where she became deputy news editor, before joining Business Traveller as deputy editor and launching the magazine’s website. She has also written travel features, news and expert comment for the Guardian, Observer, Times, Telegraph, Boundless and other consumer titles and was named one of the top 50 UK travel journalists by the Press Gazette.
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