A gunman threatened to shoot a customer at an Oxford post office before making his getaway on a bicycle.
The attacker walked into Cowley Road post office shortly after noon on Saturday.
He brandished what appeared to be a gun and held it at a terrified customer's back.
The postmistress hurriedly bundled 800 into a bag when he threatened to shoot people in the queue.
Six police cars rushed to the scene, but the man had already made his getaway on a bicycle along Morrell Avenue. No-one was injured. The 5ft 4in robber is described as a white male wearing dirty blue jeans, white trainers and a blue top.
He also wore a home-made balaclava with eye-holes cut out.
Pc Andy Heelas immediately launched an appeal for witnesses. He said he particularly wanted to trace a man who came into the shop shortly after the attack and disappeared again.
He said: "It was a strange time for a robbery to take place.
"There must have been many people around who could have seen it."
The Post Office declined to comment on the raid.
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