Two men robbed the award-winning Parkfoot Garage, at West Malling, Kent, on Wednesday February 17, threatening staff before making off with about £1,400 in cash, cigarettes and alcohol.

Police were called at around 4.40am to reports of the raid at the BP petrol station and Spar store, which is open 24 hours a day, 365 days a year.

Owner David Charman said: “It was a difficult experience for all of us, particularly for my two staff who were on duty. Luckily there were no injuries and no damage done, only aggressive behaviour to staff.

“They got away with about £1,400 of cash, single packets of cigarettes, bottles of alcohol and all of our change, such as £25 in 1p coins and £35 in 2p coins - basically all they could carry in two heavy duty Spar plastic bags.

“The staff acted absolutely as per their training and opened till drawers for them. It’s unfortunate, but these things happen.”

He added that the quality of CCTV at the store was so good that police were able to identify the robbers immediately, despite attempts to cover their faces.

He said: “My staff realised that one had been in the shop earlier and bought alcohol and was still wearing the same clothes.

“They had both been involved in trying to shoplift from us on Valentine’s day, so we had printed pictures for all the staff to watch out for.

“My aim from all this is to be able to tell my staff that these two guys have a court order banning them from going near our site ever again.”