Witnesses tell of threats as masked raider strikes in daylight robbery
Witnesses spoke of their shock after a building society in a town centre was raided in daylight.
A man who had covered his face with a scarf walked into the West Brom Building Society in Wednesbury and threatened staff before making off with cash.
No one was injured in the raid and no weapons were seen by witnesses. A small quantity of cash was stolen. Four members of the public were in the building at the time, at around 11am yesterday.
Shop workers knew nothing of the raid until armed officers and police descended on the building in Market Place minutes later.
A quick-thinking staff member had activated the alarm inside the branch, alerting them to the emergency. Kim Hill who runs Time4Lunch with business partner Deborah Moran, said she saw the robber walk past the window before raiding the building society.
The 46-year-old said: "He was a white man and he had a blue, grey scarf up around his face, so you could only see his eyes. I thought it was a bit odd that someone would be wearing that in this weather, that's what made me notice him. He was walking with his head down, and he was quite short."
She added: "We only realised what had happened when the police came. It's horrible to have something like that happen here, I just feel for the staff, it must have been terrifying. Sergeant James Lewis said: "My officers were on the scene three minutes after receiving the alert and an investigation has now been launched by detectives from Force CID."
A spokesman from West Bromwich Building Society said: "We can confirm a robbery took place at our Wednesbury branch. An assailant threatened staff, who then handed over a sum of cash. Nobody was injured.
"The safety of our customers and staff is of paramount importance and we will endeavour to assist the police with their investigation in any way we can."
