POLICE were today hunting an armed robber who struck at a building society in a seaside resort.

Dozens of officers, some with dogs, descended on the centre of Bexhill after a man held up the Portman Building Society in St Leonards Road.

Officers first closed off nearby Western Road at around 8.45am, then St Leonards Road was closed to the public while the building society was checked.

When it was confirmed the suspect was not in the building, the road was reopened.

Police remained on the scene late into the morning.

John Robson, manager of the Courts furniture shop next to the building society, was watching the drama.

He said: "When I came in this morning there were police all over the place. We had no idea what was really going on until someone from over the road told us there had been an armed robbery.

"There's a lot of police vehicles and I did see some dog handlers but we are still open for business and people are walking up and down."

It is thought the robber may have escaped through the back entrance of the small Portman branch.

Police have so far refused to confirm if any cash was stolen or if any staff were present at the time of the incident.

St Leonards Road is just off Bexhill's town centre and includes a parade of around a dozen shops.

Investigations were continuing throughout today.

Converted for the new archive on 30 June 2000. Some images and formatting may have been lost in the conversion.