A newsagent was robbed of £100 by a man wielding a pickaxe.

The robber threatened the owner before grabbing cash from the till and running away, followed for a short distance by a customer.

The robber was last seen heading towards Lyndhurst Road, Hove, shortly after 8.45am yesterday.

Ramesh Patel, who owns Wilson's Newsagents in Cromwell Road, said: "He had a sort of mask on, you could only see his eyes.

"He just came into the shop with a pickaxe.

"He threatened me with it.

"I opened the till to give him some money and he grabbed most of it and ran."

Police said the heavy pickaxe could have been thrown away as he ran from the scene.

A spokesman said: "It would be handy if somebody found that. It may have been thrown in a front garden."

The robber was described as in his late teens or early 20s and about 5ft 8ins.

He was wearing a beige woolly hat, a beige wind-cheater jacket and a dark scarf.

Anybody with information should contact Hove police station on 0845 6070999.

Friday January 02, 2004