Shopkeepers in Dunmow were shocked at 10.30am this morning (Thursday, June 23) when an armed, masked raider ran into the HSBC Bank in the high street and grabbed a black box of cash from a G4S security guard just delivering it.

Police were immediately called to the scene and the police helicopter surveyed the area.

In the post office, two women counter assistants, who did not wish to be named, said it had shaken them up.

One said: “A customer came in, grabbed a pen and said: ‘I must write down this number and you need to call the police. This is the registration number.’

“He had seen the getaway car. Our manager went outside but there was no need to call the police, it was already taken care of.”

Wayne Maddison, lettings manager at estate agents Daniel Brewer, said he had spoken to a witness, who had tried to give chase to the robber.

“He said he saw a man with a mask, a hat and a sawn off shotgun run out of the bank and down to the Co-op. He tried to follow him but the man had gone. The robber ran through to the Maltings, where the police found out a burnt out car. He must have had another car waiting for him.”

In nearby hair salon Tangles, stylist Lauren Berry said: “You don’t expect this to happen in Dunmow.”