A ROBBER threatened a Widnes shopkeeper as he was closing with what he claimed was a gun.

The offender pushed the man back into the Spar shop in Halton View Road and demanded takings from the till.

He fled with a quantity of cash.

Detectives today appealed for information.

Det Sgt Mark Naylor of Halton CID said: "The member of staff was not injured but was left very shaken by his ordeal. We take all incidents of this nature seriously and are doing all we can to trace the offender.

"We are appealing for anyone with any information which could assist our enquiries to come forward.”

The offender is described as being white, 5ft 6ins tall, with a slight to average build. He was wearing a dark blue hooded top and spoke with a local accent.

No gun was seen or discharged during the incident which happened at around 10pm on Wednesday, March 19.

Anyone with information should contact Cheshire Police on 101 quoting incident number 934 of 19 March 2014 or call Crimestoppers, anonymously, on 0800 555 111.