By Graeme Strachan and Stefan Morkis

A MASKED gunman held up a store in the village of Longforgan last night, making off with a three-figure sum of cash.

The man—wearing a balaclava —entered the Longforgan General Store on the village’s Main Street and brandished a firearm at two members of staff before demanding the contents of the till.

He is described as being in his 20s and was wearing dark tracksuit-type clothing.

The hold-up occurred around 7.15 pm last night, shortly before the shop was due to close at 8 pm.

Although extremely shaken by their ordeal, neither member of staff was injured.

The shop assistants—believed to be a teenager and a man in his early 20s—heard a vehicle leaving from outside the shop after the man ran out.

As a result, police are probing whether there may have been a getaway driver.

“The shop assistants heard a vehicle leaving from outside the shop, although it’s not clear at this stage if this was involved in the incident or which direction it headed in,” said a police spokesman.

“The assailant is possibly in his 20s.

“Police are keen to speak to anyone who was in the area at the time and in particular to trace a male wearing dark tracksuit-type clothing and a balaclava.

“Witnesses are requested to contact the police if they saw anything or anyone acting suspiciously in the area around the time of the incident.”

Police conducted door-to-door inquiries in the village as part of their investigations but the incident has shocked residents in the close-knit community of Longforgan.

One woman, who asked not to be named, said she was alerted to the incident when a policeman arrived at her door around 8 pm.

“A policeman came to the door and asked if I had seen any cars outside around 7.15 as there had been an incident at the shop.

“There must have been about three or four police cars outside the shop but it has never crossed my mind that anything like this could happen in the village.

“There’s usually only two guys working on a Friday night—one in his early 20s and another who is still at school and helps restock the shelves. I just hope they are both all right.”

She added that many villagers were upset at Scottish Prison Service plans to double capacity at Castle Huntly, where two prisoners have absconded from in the last month, to 300.

The woman said many people in the village would automatically link last night’s incident with the open prison.

“Even if the robber didn’t come from Castle Huntly, it’s easy to think that if someone has been doing eight years for drugs or something then their friends aren’t going to be Snow White,” she said.

“They might come and visit them and learn about the shop—the robbery occurred just before closing so I’d guess there would have been quite a bit of cash in the till.”

Anyone with any information regarding the incident is asked to call police in Perth on 01738 621141 or speak to any officer.