A woman’s been left frightened after a robbery at Subway in Chippenham town centre.
Police officers responded to the 999 call about the incident at around 8.30pm yesterday, arriving at the scene within just three minutes – but the suspect had left the scene in a getaway car.
A man walked through the rear door of shop on The Bridge and demanded that a female member of staff open the safe and the till. He removed a quantity of cash and placed the money in a black and red laptop-style bag, before leaving out of the same rear door.
It is believed he spoke to a possible accomplice outside and they both got into a vehicle and drove off.
The suspect is described as a white man, with a fairly tanned complexion and dark eyes. His face was covered up to his nose and he had a hat pulled down to the top of his eyes.
He was dressed in all black, wearing a black waist-length coat or jacket and black trousers with several pockets down the sides. He was also wearing black gloves and sand-coloured work-style boots.
He was between 5ft 8ins and 5ft 10ins tall and a slightly bigger than average build.
A car was seen in the area around the time and may have been linked to the crime. It was a silver three-door Vauxhall Astra Mark 5, described as a sporty style, with a black grill on the front.
Detective Inspector Nick Mawson, from Wiltshire Police CID, said: “This was a very frightening incident for the woman involved, but luckily she was not injured and police were on the scene within three minutes of receiving her call.
“We are looking into the possibility that this robbery is linked to the recent one at Subway in Devizes, and another similar incident at a Subway store in Cirencester over the weekend.
“Because of this we are liaising with other Subway branches in the county to offer crime prevention and safety advice, in the hope that we can prevent further incidents.”
He added: “We are now carrying out a thorough investigation and are following up a number of leads including CCTV, forensics and door-to-door inquiries in the surrounding area.
“I would like to reassure the public that we are taking these robberies incredibly seriously and would urge anyone with information to get in touch.”
Anyone with information should contact Wiltshire Police on 101. Alternatively information can be left anonymously by calling Crimestoppers on 0800 555111.
