'Frightening experience' - Man 'wearing dark sunglasses' entered Edinburgh Margiotta shop with knife and made off with cash during armed robbery

A man entered an Edinburgh shop with a knife in his waistband and threatened staff before making off with a three-figure sum of cash.

The armed robbery took place at the Margiotta premises in Ashley Terrace at about 7pm on Tuesday and police are now appealing for witnesses and reviewing CCTV.

Police said the suspect entered the store and approached staff at the till and made a "muffled request" while "showing a knife in his waistband" before threatening staff to open the register and taking the money.

He left on foot and is believed to have headed towards Harrison Gardens.The man is described as being black, aged in his late 20s to early 30s, of a medium build and around 5ft 10ins tall. He was wearing a dark grey suit jacket, a black hooded top with the hood up, black trousers and black leather shoes. His face was covered with a black scarf and dark coloured sunglasses.Detective Constable Zaira Marker of Corstorphine CID said: “Nobody was injured but this was a frightening experience for staff and customers alike.“Extensive enquiries are ongoing to identify the man responsible, including reviewing CCTV from the area.“Anyone who believes they may have information which could help identify the man or who was in the area at the time of robbery is urged to contact police as soon as they can."

The armed robbery took place at the Margiotta store in Ashley Terrace.

Local Green councillor Gavin Corbett said: “This is my local shop and I’m in here almost daily. It’s a shop with a lot of footfall so this is very unusual and it’s a shop where a lot of the staff and customers know each other.

“I’ve been in to chat to the staff to check everyone is okay. Meantime if anyone can help the police with the case I’d really appreciate that.””Anyone with information can call 101, quoting incident 3084 of 23 June, or call Crimestoppers anonymously on 0800 555 111.