Pants-on-head knife raider hits petrol station

Essex police have issued an appeal for information after a masked man armed with a carving knife carried out a robbery at a petrol station in Clacton.

The incident happened at the London Road Garage in London Road yesterday at 10.50pm.

A cashier was alone in the shop when a man - with his face covered by what is thought to be a pair of white underpants or boxer shorts - walked in, brandished a knife and demanded money.



He then grabbed the 36-year-old cashier and held him in a headlock while holding the knife at his back and forced him to open the till. The robber grabbed a three-figure sum of notes and ran from the shop in the direction of Knox Road.

Det Sgt Kevin Cooper said: “This was a nasty incident in which the robber used force and threatened the cashier with a knife. The cashier was unharmed but obviously badly shaken.

“We want to hear from anyone with information about the robber or may have seen him lurking in the area before the attack or saw him running away.”

The man was white, about 6ft, in his early 20s, of medium build and had short brown hair. He was wearing a black Adidas tracksuit with three white stripes and dark coloured trainers.