Worthing police have put up a £10,000 reward to help catch a shotgun raider who has carried out nine robberies on shops and garages.

He is believed to have escaped with up to £2,000 in a string of robberies since Christmas.

Officers are now linking an attack on Pickwick News on Brighton Road last Friday with the same man who threatens terrified staff with a sawn-off shotgun.

Detective Inspector Jeff Riley of Sussex Police, who is supervising the Operation Texan investigation, said: "We are doing everything we can to try and catch this guy.

"The fear is that this guy brandishing a sawn-off shotgun is at large. What I would say is that he hasn't used violence yet. He hasn't discharged the weapon and there have been no injuries apart from shock.

"We are putting forward this reward to try to bring forward people who might know who he is.

"It is one of a number of lines of inquiry we are pursuing and we would urge anyone who might know who he is to come forward."

The first took place on December 28 at the Murco filling station in Sompting Road, followed by two on Janaury 4 and 8 at the Texaco Garage in Heene Road.

He then struck at the BP Garage in Brighton Road on January 13 and the Village Stores in Church Road, Tarring, on January 29.

The Thresher off-licence in Church Road, Tarring, was hit on January 17 and February 4 the Spar shop on Heene Road on February 8.

The robber is white, in his late teens or early 20s, about 5ft 8in tall and often wears a hooded beige top over a blue jacket.

He has a prominent nose and on two occasions has had a plaster on his cheek. He wears a beige hooded jacket with a scarf covering the lower part of his face.

Police have warned people not to approach him.

Anyone with any information should contact DC Amanda Lawrence on 0845 6070999 ext 81256.