A female shop assistant was threatened with a large kitchen knife by two masked men during a robbery.

The two men, one hooded and the other wearing a balaclava, made off with around £300 and some cigarettes following a robbery at the One Stop store in Bodium Drive, St Leonards on Saturday.

One of the suspects threatened a female member of staff with a large kitchen knife in the empty store at around 8.15pm, then went behind the counter and demanded she open the till before leaving in the direction of Church Wood Drive.

Detective Constable Anton Affonso of East Sussex CID said: "This was a very frightening experience for the female member of staff.

“Fortunately, she was not physically harmed and there were no customers in the store at the time of the incident.”

One suspect is described as white, 5'8, of medium build and was wearing a grey checked jacket with black shoulders and a hood worn up over his head.

The other suspect is described as white, 6', of slim build and had a black balaclava over his face along with a black hooded top.

Anyone with information should call 0845 60 70 999 quoting serial 1518 of 08/10.