After reading the article about the armed robbery in Patcham on the front of The Argus (April 5), I couldn't help thinking what a joke.

I drove into Patcham the same day to see a few people milling around in the road.

They had just chased off the robber but I was unaware of this at the time.

I parked my car just past the scout hut, unloaded two small children and a buggy and walked to the Co-op where I got a basketful of shopping and then went to the checkout, where the cashier and two assistants filled me in on what happened.

They were visibly shaken and I said they should have something sweet for the shock.

As I was packing my shopping, the police turned up, a man from CID walked in and just looked at the cashiers and said: "Manager!"

He'd obviously been to the Life on Mars character Gene Hunt school of policing.

Then they proceeded to cordon off the area although initially they were letting people walk through by the shops on the other side.

They then decided this wasn't a good idea and stopped us.

What a joke. It must have taken more than ten minutes for them to turn up to an armed robbery when they have a base up the road next to Asda in Hollingbury.

It's not like they were waiting for an armed unit as all the police who arrived were not armed. With Patcham being where it is, the robber could have gone anywhere on the A27 or A23, although I see the police recovered the car nearby. Maybe if they got there quicker they might have had a chance of actually catching someone.

The people of Patcham definitely deserve better than that.

  • Jo Clay by e-mail