A masked thief raided a north-east shop within minutes of it opening.
Joan Topping had been busy getting the Spar on St Modans Place, Fraserburgh ready for customers when the man – who was armed with a knife – demanded she open the tills and cigarette cases.
The culprit – who had covered his face with masking tape – made off with more than £100 and as much as he could carry.
Yesterday, local councillor Brian Topping revealed it was his wife who had been behind the till when the incident happened at about 5.55am on October 11.
Mr Topping said he had raced to the shop after being woken up by a phone call alerting him to the robbery.
His wife has worked at the Spar for several years and had left for work that morning shortly before 5.30am to open as she always had.
She described getting the shop ready for customers when out of the corner of her eye she saw a shadow enter through the front door.
Before she knew it, the man was behind the counter and demanding that she open the tills and cigarette cases.
He took what he could carry and then fled.
Police are still searching for the culprit, but the 55-year-old has been buoyed by messages of support from customers and people who have heard about the incident.
“The police are dealing with it now and we don’t want to say too much to hinder that,” Mr Topping added.
“It’s a horrific thing for anyone to go through, but the police have been fantastic. They’ve been phoning her to see how she is and have put on patrols outside the shop.”
Chief Inspector Elaine Logue has committed “all available resources” to track down the thief and has appealed for anyone with information to come forward.
She said: “Thankfully no one was injured during the incident, however I fully appreciate and understand the impact this would have had on the person involved and also the impact such a crime has on the local community.
“Crimes of this nature are thankfully generally rare, however the seriousness of this incident is not lost on me and please be re-assured that we are committing all available resources and time to apprehend the person responsible.”
