POLICE are appealing for witnesses to an attempted robbery at a store in York - where a member of staff was threatened with a knife.

At around 9.40pm yesterday (April 28), a man entered the Spar store in Bad Bargain Lane in York and demanded cash from a staff member and threatened them with a knife.

Police said the man, thought to be in his mid-20’s with a medium build and around 6ft tall, left the store empty handed, but as he left he knocked over a wine rack, potentially leaving him with stained clothes and shoes. He then ran off in the direction of the cycle path in Rawdon Avenue.

The man was described as wearing a black jacket with the hood up, black trousers and shoes, with a green woolly scarf over his face. He was also carrying a black drawstring bag, officers added.

Detective Sergeant James Pearson from York CID said: "Fortunately the staff member involved in this incident was unharmed, but it’s understandably left them very shaken and upset.

"I’d appeal to anyone who has any information, or saw anything suspicious in the area at the time of the incident to contact us on 101 and pass that information on."

To pass on information please contact North Yorkshire Police on 101, select option 1 and pass the information to the Force Control Room.

Please quote reference number: 12210107847. Alternatively, Crimestoppers can be contacted anonymously on 0800 555 111.