A DRINKS giant is offering a big reward to help solve two vicious robberies.

First Quench, which is owned by Whitbread, runs the Drinks Cabin in Palatine Road, Worthing, and Threshers in Wallace Parade, Worthing.

Both off-licences were targeted last month by robbers who threatened staff and customers with knives and guns before making off with cash.

The company refuses to disclose the amount of the reward, but PC Chris Saunders, spokesman for Highdown Division, says it will be "substantial".

He said: "They are a very big company and they will be giving a large reward for information leading to the arrest and conviction of the people who committed these crimes."

The robberies were two of a series of three which took place in March and are being linked by detectives.

In the first raid, on March 21, hundreds of pounds was taken from the Alldays store in Boxgrove, Worthing, after staff and a witness were threatened with a knife.

First Quench is offering a reward in connection with a robbery at the Drinks Cabin on March 24 when staff were again threatened with a knife.

On March 29, three customers were forced to lie on the floor at Threshers as a raider with a pistol stole cash from the till.

In all three cases, hundreds of pounds was taken, and a police operation was launched to catch the robber in the act if he tried to hold up an off-licence again.

PC Saunders said: "We mounted a huge operation that week to try to catch these people.

"It was a very worrying trend of increasing violence and we swamped the area with police officers but no further robberies were committed.

"No one was injured but it was obviously an absolutely terrifying experience for the people who were threatened and First Quench is as eager as we are to catch the culprits."

No one at First Quench was available for comment.

Converted for the new archive on 30 June 2000. Some images and formatting may have been lost in the conversion.