A woman who had a gun pointed at her head by a masked man during a raid on a fish and chip shop last night has spoken of her ordeal.

Sally Pang, 59, from Jade Garden in Poole Road, Ewell, said she and her husband were getting ready to close the shop just after 10pm when two robbers entered.

Mrs Pang said: "I was just sitting down waiting to close and they came in and asked for money. They pointed the gun at me. I didn’t know what was going on. I thought it was a joke.

"They said ‘come on give me the money or I will shoot you'."

The robbers, who stood about 10ft away, then spotted her husband and repeated their demand.

Mrs Pang said: "I was frightened. I was worried that they would shoot me because I only had £60. They wanted to steal the charity box for the blind but they could not take it."

The men could not remove the charity box because it was fixed to the counter but they snatched the money and ran off in different directions.

She said: "I gave them £60 and they ran away."

Mrs Pang said she could not even see if the men were white or black because they were completely covered up.

She said: "It was too fast. They had everything covered, their hands, face, head. I couldn’t see anything."

She said her neighbour saw the men leaving her back garden earlier after failing to get in the back which was already locked up.

She said: "I have been here for 23 years and there have been no problems. I did not know what was going on.

"It was very quiet. We didn’t see anyone around. Everybody had closed their curtains."

Police went down to the scene but a manhunt in the area failed to find the two men, both about 6ft tall. House-to-house enquiries are continuing.

Detective Constable Errol Chetty said: "This was a frightening ordeal for the members of staff involved and no doubt the experience will stay with them for some time therefore we are doing all we can to find those responsible and bring them to justice.

"I would appeal to anyone who saw anything suspicious in the area either around the time of the offence or in the days prior to it taking place as it may assist us with our investigation."

Local councillor Eber Kington said: "I have to say incidents like this are very upsetting for the community. But what we need to remember is they are so upsetting because they are so rare.

"We know police have a good track record tracking these things down. We have to rely on them to do an excellent job."

Anyone with information should call police on 101, quoting reference EP/13/3776 or Crimestoppers anonymously on 0800 555 111.

 

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