Geoffrey Ellis, owner of Maceys convenience store in Weymouth, Dorset, has spoken to Better Retailing about a knife attack on his store that left staff “shaken”.

On Friday 19 April, a masked man held a member of staff at knife point, before stealing £40 from the till and £200-worth of tobacco.

The incident – which sparked a major police response including helicopters, an armed response unit and a forensic van – reportedly left staff and customers of the newsagents “reeling”.

“There was one member of staff in the store, she was very shaken up. She’s having counselling to recover,” Ellis said.

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“The police have been very good, and everyone possible has been out looking and checking CCTV. It doesn’t happen very often here. I think this was a one-off for us.”

Ellis added that he felt the thief could have been a “professional”, as he had the mask on long before he attacked the store.

“There’s not much you can do in these situations. If there were more people in the shop, it wouldn’t change anything – he’d still come in and wave the long knife around.”

Trade bodies and retailers recently called for a higher police presence and increased funding of security for independent stores, following a government announcement of a crackdown on retail crime.

Dorset police told Better Retailing: “We take reports of this nature very seriously. This matter remains the subject of a full investigation, led by detectives from Dorset County CID, and we are continuing to explore a number of active lines of enquiry. We are unable to comment any further at this time.”

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