A busy travel agency was hit for the second time in as many months when armed raiders got away with £7,000 last week.

Two masked men raided Thomas Cook, Purley, at 4pm on Tuesday and subjected staff and prospective holiday makers to a terrifying ordeal.

Armed police units flooded the area within 10 minutes but were unable to catch the men, one armed with a handgun, who had escaped through the back exit with their haul from the foreign exchange till. A police spokesman confirmed that the money was both in sterling and foreign currency.

No one was injured and for a couple of tense hours the Brighton Road was closed while armed officers searched the area.

A report that the men had entered the Sussex Hotel in Purley yielded nothing after an extensive search.

Shaken staff described the two men as both white, wearing blue clothing and in their 20s. One was wearing a Wimbledon Football Club strip.

If you have any information call DC Trevor Shotton on 0171 407 6319.

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