A ROBBER escaped with a "substantial" amount of cash after producing what appeared to be a gun during a post office raid in Burnley.

Police want to hear from anyone in the area around Accrington Road Post Office yesterday lunchtime who may have seen the raider running from the scene.

The raider went into the post office at 11.50am, confronted the lone woman cashier and produced a tube from a black bin liner.

"The lady was convinced by the offender that the bin liner contained a firearm and he escaped with a substantial sum of cash," said Detective Sergeant Peter Simm.

The raider is understood to have got away with around £3,000.

He ran off across Accrington Road and along Clough Street and Fielden Street. Police believe he headed towards a pedestrian underpass which leads under the M65 to Gannow Top.

At some point after leaving the post office he was joined by an accomplice.

The cashier, who has not been named by police, was shaken by her ordeal but unhurt.

Staff at the post office refused to talk about the robbery. The robber was white, 5ft 11ins, with dark hair and in his mid twenties. He spoke with a local accent and was wearing a black baseball cap and black wax-type jacket down to his knees.

Anyone with any information is asked to contact Burnley CID on 01282 425001.

It is the second robbery in the area in four days.

On Tuesday a woman shop assistant at Cohens Pharmacy, Padiham Road, had a penknife pushed into her back during a robbery in which drugs were taken.

The pharmacy is on the other side of the Gannow roundabout road system from the post office.

DS Simm said police had no reason to believe the two incidents were linked.

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