A woman cashier was threatened at gunpoint during a terrifying shop raid.

The robber threatened to shoot her, forcing her male colleague at Cash Now in Cleckheaton to hand over money after he managed to get into a secure area of the store.

Last night Andrew Farrow, owner of the Albion Street shop which provides cash for cheques and foreign currency, put up a £5,000 reward for information leading to the arrest and conviction of the robber.

He said: “Somebody came in with a gun and took some money – we don’t know what’s missing because we haven’t got back in to find out what is missing.

“He went up to a member of staff, pointed the gun at her, took the money from the till she was working on and then ran off down a ginnel on Cheapside.

“The police were here in minutes with the armed response unit.”

Mr Farrow said a man was seen pacing outside the shop just a few minutes before the robbery. He said: “If anybody saw somebody walking suspiciously between the two streets of Cheapside and Albion Street at about 1pm then we urge them to get in touch with the police.

“We will also offer a £5,000 reward to anyone who can provide information which leads to the arrest and conviction of this person.

“Police have got straight on to the CCTV of the Council and of the amusement arcade and our CCTV from in the shop.

“So we are hoping to have a good picture of him from the front, from the back and from the side.

“We are looking really for somebody who was pacing up and down – there must have been plenty of people around at that time.

“He was wearing a dark coat and was carrying a blue or black bag.”

The shop was closed all yesterday afternoon as a result of the robbery, but Mr Farrow believed it would be re-opened today.

“The shop assistant is shaken up but determined to not let it affect her,” he said.

“We are going to open up again tomorrow.

“Obviously we have got all the security we can get, increased our security efforts, checked our security systems and we are going to get back on with trading.

“In the scheme of things the amount that’s gone isn’t massive, it can’t have been, because we don’t keep too much on the premises.”

He added there was an investigation into how the man had got behind the security glass in front of the register.

Keith Joplin, president of the Spenborough Chamber of Trade and Commerce, said: “This is a very rare occurrence in a place like Cleckheaton and it is obviously a serious police matter.”

Officers were called to the scene at about 1pm yesterday, and a police spokesman confirmed nobody had been injured in the incident.

He said the robber had been described as a white male wearing a dark coloured coat and carrying an old black bag, which he used to take the money.

It is also believed he was wearing a balaclava or a beanie hat and sunglasses.

Anyone with any information is asked to contact Dewsbury CID on (01924) 431185 or Crimestoppers anonymously on 0800 555 111.