Police officers in Essex are hunting for two people who held up petrol station staff with what is believed to be a gun during an armed robbery.

The incident took place at the BP garage in The Broadway, Loughton, at approximately 10:40pm on Wednesday, December 13.

They robbers had their faces covered and walked into the garage and showed a member of staff what is thought to have been a firearm, said Essex Police.

They stole a three-figure sum of cash, cigarettes and bottles of alcohol and drove away from the scene.

One of the suspects was white, and wore a balaclava covering his face, whilst the other suspect was of mixed heritage and wore a black jacket with a black hood, a black baseball cap with a skull picture on it, grey tracksuit bottoms and trainers.

Essex Police are appealing for witnesses or anyone with any information regarding the incident to contact Loughton CID on 101 quoting incident 1114, or 13/12 or Crimestoppers anonymously on 0800 555111.