Shop assistants were threatened by a man armed with a screwdriver just yards from Hove police station last night.

The raider and an accomplice burst into the Thresher off-licence in Holland Road, Hove, at 6.30pm and grabbed cash from the till and cigarettes from a shelf.

The assistants, a man aged 24 and a woman in her 50s, suffered shock but were unhurt.

Officers from the nearby police station searched the area but the raiders escaped. They made off in the direction of Western Road.

Both were in their mid-twenties and one wore a dark-coloured hooded top.

Police today asked witnesses to call Detective Constable Barry Sutherden at Brighton and Hove CID on 0845 6070999.