'Gone in 80 seconds' - Man carrying knife in waistband stole hundreds of pounds from Edinburgh Margiotta store during 'perfectly timed' armed robbery

The suspect, who was wearing sunglasses and a black scarf around the lower part of his face, took a bottle of water to the till at the Ashley Terrace shop and muffled a request to the assistant before opening his jacket to show the top of a kitchen knife tucked into his waistband.

Shop supervisor Lucas Hope said his colleague then tried to reach for a bell next to the till but was told by the man 'don't try it' before he took the cash and fled in the direction of Harrison Gardens, at about 7pm on Tuesday. No one was hurt during the incident.

Mr Hope, an evening supervisor at the store, said the robber “timed it perfectly” as there was only one employee on the shop floor along with three or four customers during the incident which went largely “unnoticed.” The cash in the till was also due to be put into the safe.

Mr Hope had been in the store room dealing with a staff changeover at the time and said he rushed up to the shop floor when the bell sounded three times, called the police and asked customers to leave the shop before his colleague told him: 'We have been robbed.'

Mr Hope said: "My colleague was a bit shaken but he handled it well and basically no one got hurt. It was a threatening altercation and the adrenaline hit him quite hard and gave him a buzz but he eased up after about 10 or 15 minutes.

"He (the robber) was in the shop for one minute and 20 seconds, from when he walked in to having to wait for a customer to leave the till and then leaving. The altercation itself lasted about 30 seconds."

Mr Hope said he is aware of shoplifters but the only other robbery he recalled was at the Comiston Road Margiotta store on Halloween a couple of years ago.

Police are now appealing for witnesses to come forward and are checking CCTV.

The suspect is described as being black, aged in his late 20s to early 30s, of a medium build and around 5ft 10ins tall.

He was wearing a dark grey suit jacket, a black hooded top with the hood up, black trousers and black leather shoes. His face was covered with a black scarf and dark coloured sunglasses.

Detective Constable Zaira Marker of Corstorphine CID said: “Nobody was injured but this was a frightening experience for staff and customers alike.

“Extensive enquiries are ongoing to identify the man responsible, including reviewing CCTV from the area.

“Anyone who believes they may have information which could help identify the man or who was in the area at the time of robbery is urged to contact police as soon as they can."

Local Green councillor Gavin Corbett said: “This is my local shop and I’m in here almost daily. It’s a shop with a lot of footfall so this is very unusual and it’s a shop where a lot of the staff and customers know each other.

“I’ve been in to chat to the staff to check everyone is okay. Meantime if anyone can help the police with the case I’d really appreciate that.”

Anyone with information can call 101, quoting incident 3084 of 23 June, or call Crimestoppers anonymously on 0800 555 111.