Crewe robber uses meat cleaver in Wistaston Road shop raid

A SHOP assistant has described the terrifying moment a robber threatened her with a meat cleaver and told her: 'Give me your money'.

Lynn Mellor was working on her own at Owen's General Store, in Crewe, when the man wearing a hoodie confronted her.

He escaped with almost £300 in notes from the till.

Now police are hunting the offender, who targeted the Wistaston Road corner shop at 8.08pm on Friday.

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There was one other customer present at the time and the man waited until she had left.

Lynn, who has worked at the shop for more than 12 years, said: "He came to the counter, drew out a knife and said, 'Give me your money', so I opened the till and moved away.

"He grabbed the cash and left.

"When you have a meat cleaver stuck towards you, you give them what they want."

A customer who entered the store straight after the incident claimed they had seen an accomplice, who had uttered the word 'sorted' as the man left the scene.

Step have now been taken to ensure more staff are on duty at the premises.

Lynn, aged 50, added: "The manager did offer me a week off, but being at home would just make it worse."

Shop owner, Mike Owen said the attack had been very disturbing for her.

The 31-year-old said: "Lynn's confidence has been knocked. It is not a nice thing to go through.

"I think the robber did it off the cuff because he didn't attempt to cover his head and it was still light outside. He must have been desperate for money. "I get so frustrated because I have to police the shop myself. The amount of people I have caught trying to steal from here is ridiculous.

"The robber's face was caught on CCTV, which has been passed to police."

Cheshire Police today appealed for anyone who witnessed the incident or knows anything about it to come forward.

Officers say the robber was last spotted heading along Flag Lane, towards Bateman's Court.

Detective Constable Andy Dixon said: "We are making extensive inquiries to trace the person responsible for this and would appeal to anyone who may have information to contact us."

The offender is thought to have been in his early 20s. He is described as white, 5ft 9ins to 5ft 10in tall and of slim build.

He had a local accent and was wearing a woollen knitted hooded top over his head, and grey Adidas bottoms.

Anyone with information should call DC Andy Dixon on the police non-emergency number 101, quoting incident 873 of March 1, 2013.