Northallerton police are urgently appealing for information following an armed robbery at a jewellers in town.
It occurred at just after 4pm on Thursday 7 June 2012, at Bradley’s Jewellers in Market Row – known locally as Barker’s arcade – running off the High Street.
Two men, wearing balaclavas, entered the shop and smashed the display counters, stealing a quantity of jewellery.
After leaving the shop on foot, the men headed along Market Row away from the High Street. They got into a red Vauxhall Combo van parked on the one-way road running between the Applegarth car park and Romanby Road. The car was driven to Victoria Terrace where it was abandoned a few minutes later.
Both men are white, one of them was around 5ft 8in tall and the second man is shorter with a stocky build. They were carrying tools which they used to smash the glass display counters. One of the men was also carrying a black holdall.
Officers are still working to establish the items of jewellery that were stolen and their value.
Detective Inspector Andrea Kell, of Hambleton and Richmondshire CID, said:
The High Street was busy at the time when the robbery occurred and I need to speak to anyone who was either in the shopping arcade or in the area around the time of the incident. I urge anyone to come forward who may have seen two men acting suspiciously before they committed the robbery or as they left the shop and headed down the arcade and getting into the red Vauxhall Combo van.
I am particularly keen to speak to anyone who was in the Victoria Terrace area after the robbery occurred, and saw the Vauxhall being abandoned. I need to know if the men got into another vehicle there or left the area on foot.
Inspector Sarah Sanderson, of Northallerton Safer Neighbourhood Team, said:
Thankfully neither of the people working in the shop at the time of the robbery were physically harmed. However, they were left very shocked by the experience.
I would like to reassure visitors to the town and business owners that we have extra patrols in the area. Officers are also visiting other jewellers across the area to offer security advice.
If you can help police to identify anyone involved with this robbery please contact North Yorkshire Police on 101, press option 2 and ask for Northallerton CID immediately.
If you would prefer to provide information anonymously, please contact Crimestoppers on 0800 555 111 quoting reference number 12120091533.
