NEWLY released footage shows the moment a robber in a Santa hat lunged towards a woman with kitchen knife before breaking her ribs and stealing cash.

The man went into the Co-Op in Saltdean and threatened a female staff member with a kitchen knife and forced her into the store office. He then grabbed another staff member there and made him open the safe.

The female member of staff was assaulted, sustaining several broken ribs.

He stole more than £2,000 before running out of the store in Lustrell Vale into School Lane and on to Chiltington Way. He was pursued by another staff member who heard him get into a car, believed to be a silver Ford Focus hatchback, which made off down Tremola Avenue towards the seafront just after 9pm on December 20.

The robber was white, between 5ft 9in and 5ft 11in, of stocky build and wearing black jogging bottoms, a black North Face hooded top, a Santa hat with printed Santa feet on the top, a black scarf covering his face apart from his eyes and black gloves. He spoke with an accent, which was possibly either Liverpudlian or northern.

Detective Inspector Andy Wolstenholme said: "This was a violent robbery which left the staff shaken and shocked. While I acknowledge the lack of facial detail in the picture will make it hard for the public to help, we are hoping by releasing the image that someone might remember seeing this man in the area looking suspicious or running away afterwards. It's possible you may recognise him from his build or the way he moves. We would also be keen to keen to hear from anyone who has details of the car used to escape.”

"We are considering if this offence is linked to another similar knifepoint robbery at the Co-op store in Old London Road, Brighton, on Friday, December 16."

Two men went into the shop on Old London Road at 9.55pm on Friday, December 16 and threatened staff with a large kitchen knife, demanding they hand over cash from the safe. They also grabbed cash from the tills stealing around £2,500 and ran northwards along Old London Road.

Detective Constable Julian Harrison-Jones said: "This was an alarming and violent robbery with staff having a near foot-long knife brandished at them and being forced to co-operate with the men. Thankfully, they were unhurt, but shaken by their ordeal.

Both men were white and spoke with Irish accents. The first man holding the 11in knife wore a black hooded jacket with the hood up, a black jacket over the top, black tracksuit bottoms, black boots and a black scarf over his face. The second man wore a black hooded top with the hood up, grey tracksuit bottoms and green Nike Air Max trainers.

If you have any information about either incident call 101 quoting serial 1403 of 20/12.