A would-be thief made off empty-handed after trying to steal cash from a Preston convenience store.
Police are appealing for information after the incident at Grange Convenience Stores on Grange Avenue on Thursday evening.
Two men, described as white and in their 20s, were seen outside the store for around an hour-and-a-half before one man went in and approached the till.
The man, who had his hood up and was wearing a baseball cap, then started staring at the 52-year-old shopkeeper and demanded she give him money from the till.
Initially thinking he was joking, she refused and tried to ‘laugh it off’, before realising he was serious. She then told him she didn’t have any money and pressed an alarm in the shop.
The man ran from the shop, with his accomplice who was waiting inside running in the other direction.
A spokesman for Lancashire Police said: “The two men have been hanging around outside the shop for quite some time so there may have been other people that were visiting a nearby takeaway or the shop who have seen them.
“We would encourage anyone with information to get in touch by calling police on 101 or call Crimestoppers on 0800 555 111.”