This is the man detectives urgently want to speak to following a daring smash and grab robbery yesterday at a popular jewellers in Ormskirk which saw store owner David Moss threatened with an angle grinder.

Officers have also released images of some of the items stolen during the raid, which happened late yesterday afternoon at his jewellers on Moorgate.

Just after 4.35pm a man cut through a side window with an angle grinder and began taking items of expensive jewellery.

Mr. Moss has then come outside to challenge him, initially chasing the man away, but as he returned to the store he was then threatened with the power tool.

The robber continued to take more items via the broken window, riding off on a black mountain bike with white forks - and tens of thousands of pounds of platinum and white gold diamond jewellery.

He escaped towards the town centre, travelling via the M&S Foodhall carpark, an alleyway leading to Moor Street, right at the clock tower onto Burscough Street, along the alleyway by Wetherspoons onto Leyland Way to Railway Road, over the bridge and left onto Station Approach, past the train station and onto the nearby footpaths, known locally as The Pads.

He's described as white, approximately 5ft 7ins tall, of medium build and aged in his early 40s. He was wearing a black face covering, black T-shirt, black pants, sunglasses and a black cap carrying a black and white JD sports carrier bag on his back and wore blue gloves.

Detectives are now appealing for any witnesses or anyone who recognises the man in the CCTV still to come forward; they also want to hear from anybody who has been offered any of the stolen items in the photographs for sale.

DC Kelly Rosenthal, of Division South CID, said: “This was a terrifying incident for the jewellery store owner and he has been left very shaken up by it.

"Thankfully, he was not injured during the ordeal but we need to catch the man responsible.

"Although there has been no arrest made at this stage enquiries are progressing and we need the public’s help identifying the man in the CCTV still.

"We also want to hear from other jewellers in the area if they have been offered any of the stolen items for sale.”

Can you help?

Anyone with information should email 2496@lancashire.pnn.police.uk or call 101, quoting log 0994 of September 25^th, 2020. Alternatively, call independent charity Crimestoppers, in confidence, on 0800 555111.

Post from David Moss on Ormskirk Live: As you may have seen or heard prior to closing yesterday afternoon our shop windows were attacked and items taken. We are relieved to say that no one was physically harmed although quite a bit of damage has been done to our windows.I’d like to say a huge thank you to everyone on and around Moorgate who helped us during the incident, from the lady who ran with me to the top of Burscough St. chasing the thief, to those who called the police so quickly to the incredibly kind members of the public who swept the street and helped return items that had been dropped as he made off. We must also thank the incredible officers from Lancashire Constabulary who were at the shop in what felt like an instant and have already put in so much work into investigating this incident. The appreciation for everyone who has assisted us genuinely cannot be understated.
As always a final thanks goes out to all the messages of support that we have already received from so many customers old and new.
As you can imagine, there is now a lot of work to do in clean-up, repair and recovery but rest assured that in the morning, albeit a little later than usual, we will be open and providing the best service that we always strive for. We are aiming to open our doors back up by late morning, and will update this page as soon as we have.
Many thanks and look forward to welcoming you back soon,

David, staff and family