Armed robber strikes at building society

AN ARMED robber stole a quantity of cash from a building society office in a Suffolk coastal town yesterday.

The man walked into the Ipswich Building Society branch in High Street, Aldeburgh, at about 11.50am and threatened staff with what appeared to be a gun.

He demanded money and a quantity of cash was handed over before the man left.

There were no customers in the office at the time and no members of staff were hurt.

It is believed the man left Aldeburgh in the Thorpeness direction.

The first many people knew about the robbery in the area was when police cars arrived on the scene.

One shop worker at a business close to the building society said: "It is not the sort of thing you expect to happen in Aldeburgh.

"I didn't know anything had happened until the police cars started arriving."

While detectives were quickly on the scene in Aldeburgh other police officers were positioned at the Thorpeness road junction in Aldringham near the Parrot and Punchbowl pub.

The area around the building society was sealed off while scenes of crime officers carried out a detailed search.

A notice on the building society office door read: "Due to incident branch will be closed."

The offender is thought to have been wearing a light coloured top and a denim hat.

Building society staff have described him as white, about 5ft 7in or 5ft 8in tall, in his late 30s or early 40s, and having a "squashed" nose.

John Whayman, chief executive of Ipswich Building Society, praised staff for their handling of the incident.

"We are all very grateful that none of the staff were injured.

"They behaved in an exemplary manner and followed our guidelines when incidents such as this occur."

Mr Whayman said staff were "very brave" and that by keeping cool heads they prevented anyone getting hurt.

Anyone with information about the incident is asked to contact Leiston CID on 01986 835300.