An armed robber walked into a bank in Leatherhead yesterday and threatened to shoot a cashier unless money was handed over.

The robbery at 4.20pm at HSBC in North Street began when a lone 'gunman' entered the building and approached the counter, demanding money.

The cashier at first did not respond and was said to have "looked at him blankly". The suspect then threatened to shoot unless money was handed over.

Although the glass screen in front of the cashier was bullet proof, handed over an unknown amount of money to protect customers who were in the branch at the time.

An HSBC spokesman said: "The glass is bullet proof but for the sake of customers, we wouldn't want stray bullets flying around. It was a disturbing incident for staff, it doesn't happen often and especially not in that part of town."

No descriptions of the man have yet been released.