STAFF were left shaken after they were threatened by two men who stole a wad of cash and tobacco from a small village shop in Winsley.

Police officers received reports of the robbery at the Central convince store in Tyning Road at 6.10pm last Friday (May 24) and are appealing for information from anyone who may have witnessed two men acting suspiciously around that time.

A woman in her 40's from Trowbridge has since been arrested on suspicion of robbery and taking a vehicle without the owner’s consent. She is currently in custody in Melksham and enquiries are ongoing.

A police spokesman said: “We are appealing for witnesses after a robbery at a shop in Winsley.

“Two men entered the Co-op in Tyning Road at around 6.10pm and threatened a member of staff behind the till.

“They then fled the shop with cash and a quantity of tobacco, worth a combined total value of around £500, and we believe they then got into a small red car which was waiting in a nearby road.

“Nobody was injured, but both the member of staff and some of the witness have been left shaken by what happened.”

Det Sgt Adam Fleetwood-Brown, from Melksham CID, said: “Due to the time of day there were a number of witnesses in the area at the time who have spoken to police.

“They have told us that the two men had some kind of clothing covering their faces, and we believe they may have had an accomplice waiting outside in the car.

“We are now appealing for anyone who saw any suspicious activity in Winsley or Bradford on Avon on Friday to contact us. We are particularly interested in speaking to anyone who saw a small red car, believed to be a hatchback.”

Anyone with information should contact Melksham CID on 101, quoting crime reference 54190050143. Alternatively you can call Crimestoppers anonymously on 0800 55511.

Recent incidents in Trowbridge and surrounding areas shows armed robberies and knife crime is a growing problem.

In response to this Tesco have confirmed they aim to stop selling single knives in all stores within the next 12 weeks.

A spokesman said: “As a business we take the responsible sale of knives very seriously and want to make sure we are doing everything possible to keep our colleagues and customers safe.

"We no longer sell knives in our Express stores or through our home delivery service, and have been phasing out the sale of knives in Tesco Metro stores.

"Whilst we investigate and develop enhanced measures around the security and sale of knives, we are temporarily removing single knives from sale from all our large format stores, in line with customer and colleague feedback.”