An Oxford bank manager was slapped by robbers armed with a knife during a raid at a branch of Lloyds TSB on Thursday morning.
Police have appealed for witnesses to the incident, which happened at around 7.40am at the branch in Summertown. Two men forced the bank manager to let them into the Banbury Road branch as he arrived at the premises.
When inside the manager, a 51-year-old man, was forced to hand over what officers described as "a substantial quantity of cash", and was slapped by one of the robbers. Detectives said the offenders were in possession of a knife but it was kept in a bag and the manager was not threatened with it.
The manager was locked into a walk-in safe before the robbers fled the scene, with the while raid lasting around half an hour. He did not suffer any injuries in the attack, but was later treated for shock. A bank employee raised the alarm and police were called to the bank at around 9.17am, where they discovered the bank manager locked in the safe.
It is believed two vehicles were involved in the robbery, a black hatchback and a silver Vauxhall Zafira. Both left the scene in the direction of the city centre. Both offenders were wearing a black mask covering their mouth and nose. The first was described as white, 30 years old, 5ft 10ins, with a grade one shaved head and was unshaven.
The second man was black, 25 years old, 6ft, with tight curly hair and he had thin features. He was also wearing a head covering. Det Chief Inspector Paul Hayles said: “This was a very distressing ordeal for the victim but thankfully he was not physically injured during the incident.
“The offenders were in possession of a knife but it was not used during the robbery. The incident lasted about 30 minutes. I am appealing for anyone who saw anyone acting suspiciously around the premises before, during or after the incident, or anyone who saw either of these two cars head into the city centre, to contact police as soon as possible.”
Anyone with any information should call police on 101, or Crimestoppers anonymously on 0800 555111.
