Armed raiders remain at large after robbing a Burnham petrol station at gunpoint.
Two men stormed into Woodford’s Garage, in Maldon Road, demanding cash.
They snatched the till, which contained a three-figure sum, before fleeing on foot to a van parked nearby.
The police helicopter and officers on the ground scoured the Dengie area, but the men could not be found.
Staff at the garage were too distressed to comment, but businessman Chris Fugeman, who owns Marts Parts, in Devonshire Road, said he feared criminals saw rural businesses as an easy target.
Police suspected the weapon used in the raid on the garage was an imitation handgun, although they could not be certain.
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