STAFF at a Bowdon shop were held at gunpoint during an armed robbery in Bowdon.

The masked robber held three staff at during the robbery in Bowdon at the Vicarage Lane Co-op early on Sunday morning.

Police say the man armed with a gun entered the store at about 6.45am and demanded cash from a terrified staff member.

The robber then marched her upstairs to the office where two other employees were working and held them at gunpoint for more than 15 minutes while making demands for money.

At one point, the robber hit a member of staff — a 47 year-old man — over the head with the weapon before fleeing with a quantity of cash.

The police helicopter was deployed to support officers searching the area, but the robber has not yet been found.

The employee was treated at the scene by paramedics for a head injury.

The robber has been described as white, of slim build, in his 20s and approximately 5ft 11in tall.

He was wearing black trainers with blue Slazenger shell pants, a blue Go Outdoors waterproof jacket and a black peaked cap.

He also wore a black ski mask and carried a brown holdall.

DC Amanda Tootill, of GMP’s Trafford borough, said: “It is atrocious that three innocent people were subjected to such a terrifying attack while at work on a Sunday morning.

“The fact that the offender was prepared to hit a man with a weapon to get what he wanted was shocking and his actions could have had much worse consequences.

“We have a very detailed description of the offender and we know he fled on foot so I would appeal to anyone that saw anyone matching this description in the area around the time of the attack to please contact police as a matter of urgency.”

Anyone with information should call police on 101 quoting reference number 559 of 04/03/2018, or Crimestoppers, anonymously, on 0800 555 111.