A TERRIFIED shop owner has spoken of the moment a masked knifeman forced him to hand over cash from a till.

The robber screamed "open the till, open the till" while waving a 30cm blade in Sivarajah Sinnathuria's face.

Mr Sinnathuria, who runs Costcutter in Wimborne Road, Northbourne, Bournemouth with his family told the Daily Echo: "I was really frightened.

"He was shouting at me and it was a very long knife. I thought he would hurt me so I opened the till and let him take the money."

Police have now appealed for help in tracing the raider, who struck at 5.20am on Saturday.

Mr Sinnathuria went on: "I open at 5am every day and two of my regular customers had been in to buy newspapers.

"I was standing by the till when suddenly the man ran in and started shouting at me. I was terrified.

"When he ran out of the shop a bus driver saw him with the knife and stopped to see what had happened. The bus driver called the police."

Detectives said the robber ran across the road and was last seen running down Avebury Avenue.

He is described as as five feet 11 inches tall and of slim build. He wore a light grey zipped up hooded top, dark blue Nike tracksuit bottoms, dark-coloured trainers with white soles and bright blue shoelaces. He had a mask covering his face and wore gloves with orange fingertips.

Detective Constable Nick Taylor, of Bournemouth CID, said: “I am appealing to anyone who was in the Wimborne Road or Avebury Avenue area at around 5.20am and saw a man matching the description given to please contact me.

“This was a terrifying experience for the member of staff and I would like to reassure the community that a full and thorough investigation is underway, including house-to-house and CCTV enquiries.

“We are also looking for the knife that was used in this incident and I would ask local residents to check their gardens in the event the weapon may have been discarded by the suspect. If they find something of interest, please do not touch it but call Dorset Police immediately.”

Anyone with information should called Dorset Police on 101 or Crimestoppers on 0800 555 111, quoting occurrence number 55180200851.