Terror for pedestrians after robbery

POLICE are today hunting a robber who nearly mowed down pedestrians in Ipswich as he sped from the scene of his crime against the flow of traffic.

A grey Vauxhall careered down the busy town centre pavement at the height of the lunchtime rush, narrowly missing passing pedestrians.

The getaway car was speeding away from Sainsbury's, in Upper Brook Street, after a till snatch just after 1pm yesterday.

A woman, who asked not to be named, described her terror as she saw the speeding car mount the pavement and it drove into Lower Brook Street.

She said: "There was a red car at the traffic lights. The grey car clipped its wing mirror, drove up on the pavement nearly hitting the wall and then accelerated fast down the road, still on the pavement.

"It went past me as it got back from the pavement on to the road about three to four feet away.

"It was close enough for me to flatten against the wall, as well as two other ladies behind me.

"It happened very quickly, but I remember thinking 'oh my God, he's coming straight at us.'

"Soon after that a Sainsbury's security guard and another man were giving chase on foot, followed by two policemen."

A police spokesman today confirmed a man had snatched some cash from a till in the supermarket.

He said the man stood behind a cashier in the busy store, waited until the till was opened, then barged the shop-worker out of the way and grabbed the money.

The culprit then dashed from the shop and jumped into a grey Vauxhall Astra or Nova and sped away.

Police are very keen to hear from anyone in the area at the time as they carry on their investigations.

The man was described as white, 5ft 6in - 5ft 11in tall with stubble on his face and close cropped hair.

He was wearing a knitted brown bobble hat, a dark navy Gap sweatshirt and blue trousers. He had a distinctive tattoo on the back of his left hand.

Anyone with any information should contact police on 01473 613500 or Crimestoppers on 0800 555111.