POLICE ARE appealing for information after two bookmakers were robbed in the same day.
The first incident happened at 7.30pm on Tuesday 22 December 2015 at Ladbrokes on Ashton Road in Oldham.
The lone offender, described as a slim man with a dark beard, went to the counter and said something unknown.
The staff members fled to the store room and locked themselves in. The man left the shop empty handed.
He was wearing a white and grey checked coat with a rip in the back and was believed to have been carrying an unknown weapon which he concealed in his sleeve.
The second incident happened at 8pm the same day at Bet Fred on Eldon Precinct off Ashton Road in Oldham.
The lone offender, described as a man around 5ft 6in tall in his late 20s or early 30s, went into the shop as a customer with his hood up.
He was asked to remove his hood at which point he approached the counter with a pair of tights over his face.
He demanded cash and produced a small kitchen knife and threatened staff. They handed over a small amount of cash before he ran from the shop and turned left towards Ashton.
The man was carrying a burgundy woolly hat and was wearing jeans and a red long sleeved bubble coat with a red hood.
Police are appealing for information and witnesses.
Detective Constable Gareth Gwilliam said: “The two robberies happened in the same area at a similar time and while the descriptions of the offender we have been given are different in terms of the clothing he was wearing, we are not ruling out the two incidents being linked.
“We would ask if anyone was in the area at the time and remembers seeing a man matching either description that they contact police.”
Anyone with information should call police on 0161 856 9063 or the independent charity Crimestoppers anonymously on 0800 555 111.
