A KNIFE-WIELDING robber held the weapon to the throat of a staff member and demanded they “fill his bag up” during a raid on a shop this afternoon.

Police officers rushed to the Majestic Wine Warehouse on Darlington’s Grange Road at about 2.55pm after reports of an armed robbery.

The Northern Echo understands the suspect threatened the worker before fleeing the scene on a blue mountain bike, turning left onto Grange Road and heading in the direction of Skerne Park.

He is described as about 5ft 6in tall with facial hair and was wearing black work boots, black trousers and a black hoodie with a grey jumper underneath.

He was carrying a black bag as well as a green carrier bag and spoke with a Darlington accent.

A police van remained at the scene hours after the attempted robbery and residents could be seen going up to a police officer asking what had happened.

Residents on the street said they did not hear or see any signs of the armed robbery, and only noticed something had happened when police arrived.

A spokesman for Durham Constabulary said: “Thankfully no-one appears to have been seriously hurt in this incident, but it must have been terrifying for those who were caught up in it.

“We’re doing all we can to trace the man responsible and we would appeal to anyone who witnessed it or has any with information to contact us.”

Tonight, three men could be seen locking up the shop apologising to shoppers for the closure.

The shutters to the store were closed and a sign was stuck to the door saying the business was sorry for any inconvenience caused, and would be open as usual by 10am this morning.

Police were asking local businesses for their CCTV to see if they had captured any footage relating to the incident that would help with the investigation.

A shop assistant at the ESSO petrol station up the road from the wine retailer said: “The police have already been in to see us, they asked if we had any footage of the robbery from our cameras which would show what happened, but nothing was captured, and we didn’t see or hear anything.”

It is not yet known if anything was taken during the robbery.

  • Anyone with any information should contact Durham Constabulary on 101, quoting incident number 272 of February 6.