Surrey police are investigating a possible link between two Lloydspharmacy robberies within eight days, in which staff were threatened with a suspected firearm.

The latest robbery occurred at a branch on Oxshott High Street in Surrey shortly after 6.30pm on Tuesday (June 9), Surrey Police said yesterday (June 10). The suspect threatened staff before stealing “a quantity of prescription drugs and cash” and then “making off in the direction of Oxshott train station”, police said.

Detective inspector Clive Vale of Staines CID said police were aware that the incident was “similar” to another robbery that occurred at a Lloydspharmacy in Ashtead on June 2. Officers were “not ruling out the possibility” that the two incidents were linked, and were “working to establish whether it was connected”, he said.

Lloydspharmacy told C+D yesterday that it had offered support to staff present at the time of the Oxshott robbery and thanked the “commitment of our colleagues” for being able to open the branch as normal the following day.

A man had been arrested in connection with the incident and was in custody, police said. No one had been injured during the incident, they stressed.

Police described the individual who committed the second robbery as a white man in his twenties with blue eyes and a black scarf covering his face. He also wore a blue Nike jacket, navy blue jogging bottoms and black trainers, they added.

“We understand that this is a concerning incident for the community, but I would like to reassure the public that we are committed to resolving the case,” DI Vale said.

Police wanted to speak to anyone who had been in one of the shops close to the Oxshott Lloydspharmacy and saw something suspicious, he added.

They were also still “appealing for anybody to come forward” with information about the first robbery, he added.

Anyone with information relating to either robbery should contact Surrey Police on 101 or report it online at www.surrey.police.uk quoting reference number 45150048928, Surrey Police said.
 

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