TRADERS have spoken of their terror when a gunman robbed a travel agent in a street thronging with Christmas shoppers.

Skinnergate, in Darlington, was already busy yesterday morning when the man raided the branch of Dawson and Sanderson.

He approached the shop's bureau de change at 10.40am, placed a small black handgun on the counter and demanded cash.

He left with £5,000 in sterling, euros and US dollars.

"This is extremely disturbing," said John Coxon, owner of the neighbouring Legg's menswear store.

"I've been trading here since 1974 and I've never heard of anything like this happening.

"It must be very upsetting for the staff there."

The man was last seen heading towards Coniscliffe Road.

A manhunt has been launched by Darlington CID.

Witnesses said the man was about 40, stocky, 5ft 5in and spoke with an eastern European accent.

He was wearing a three-quarter-length dark jacket and a black woolly hat.

Dawson and Sanderson was closed yesterday afternoon, with staff sent home for the day. A note on the front door advised customers that the shop would reopen today.

Two female members of staff were in the store when therobber struck.

One of the shop assistants, a woman in her late fifties, told him it would take some time to get the money together. He said that he would wait.

Ali Eroglu, owner of the Pannini takeaway on the other side of Skinnergate, said: "I had no idea that anything had happened.

"The street is always buzzing at that time in the morning, especially at this time of year.

"It's a real worry for us. We stay open quite late - if something like that could happen in the middle of the day, who knows what could happen at night when nobody's around?"

Detective Inspector Paul Harker, of Darlington CID, said: "This was a very frightening experience for the two women working in the shop at the time.

"There is some suggestion, due to his accent and appearance, that the robber could be from eastern Europe.

"I would appeal to anyone who thinks they may have seen him in the vicinity of the premises, or anyone who saw anything suspicious leading up to the time of the incident or afterwards, to come forward."

Earlier this week, a gunman held up a travel agent in Hartlepool, but Darlington police are not linking the two attacks.

Detective Sergeant Caroline Davies, from Darlington CID, said: "There have been two similar raids in the local area, and it is something we will be looking at but, at this time, we are not linking the two incidents."

Witnesses are asked to call Darlington CID, on 0845-60-60-365 or contact Crimestoppers, anonymously, on 0800-555-111.