Masked robbers held up a Marks & Spencer store at knifepoint before stealing hundreds of pounds in cash.

Two raiders burst into the outlet in Mill Hill, North London, before it had opened, and one robber armed with a blade tied up staff in the food hall area of the shop with cables.

Read more

The other masked suspect took a female member of staff to a till and forced her to open it, allowing him to grab £200 in cash.

The hold-up, which took place just before 6.30am on 27 November 2017, was captured on the retailer's security footage and has now been released by the Met Police.

The suspects then left the store through a back door, and walked along The Broadway toward Hale Lane and Bunns Lane.

Detective Constable Dan Levy, of Barnet CID, said: "This was a frightening experience for store staff at the scene.

"The suspects put the victims in a brief, but highly threatening situation in order to steal £200. It is very important that we identify and apprehend these suspects as quickly as possible and I urge anyone who knows them or has information to come forward."

Knife crime across the UK jumped 21% to 37,443 recorded incidents in the year up to September 2017 compared to the 12 months before, according to Office for National Statistics data released last week.

The report showed that 38 of the 44 police forces in England and Wales recorded rises in knife crime, with London accounting for the largest volume increase.

In the capital 12,980 knife crimes took place over the period, up 23%, or 2,452 more crimes than the previous year.