A MASKED robber threatened staff with a knife during a raid on a convenience store while a young boy was in the shop.

The Nisa store on Glover Road in Birchwood was targeted during a robbery at around 2.30pm yesterday, Sunday.

An offender wearing a balaclava and armed with a kitchen knife demanded that a female shopworker hand over all the takings in the till.

He then fled the store with a quantity of cash.

Both the staff member and a young boy who was present at the time have been left ‘extremely shaken up’.

The suspect is described as being white, around 5ft8 tall and of a slim build with blue eyes.

Police say the man spoke with a local accent and was wearing all dark clothing, including black trainers with a white sole.

Detective constable John Parry said: “This was a terrifying ordeal for the victim, and the fact that a young boy was present at the time of the incident makes it even more disturbing.

“The victim and the boy have understandably been left extremely shaken up and we are committed to doing all that we can to identify the offender and bring him to justice.

“We are currently in the very early stages of our investigation and we are following a number of lines of enquiry.

“As part of our investigation we want to hear from anyone who was in the area and believes that they may have seen, or have dashcam footage of, the offender.

“We also want to speak to anyone who believes that they may know who the offender is or has any other information that may aid our investigation.”

Anyone with information is urged to contact Cheshire Police on 101, quoting incident number IML520024, or to call Crimestoppers anonymously on 0800 555 111.