Police are hunting this man after a pawnbroker's was robbed

This is the terrifying moment a masked raider burst into a pawnbroker's in Chatham during an armed robbery.

The manager of Right Cash, in Chatham High Street, was threatened with what police believe was a machete when two raiders struck.

Owner Chris Collins, 28, said the pair escaped with gold jewellery worth thousands of pounds and £300.

Police arrived within two minutes and took CCTV footage from the shop's cameras.

Now detectives - appealing for witnesses to the robbery, which happened at just after 9am on Monday - have released an image of a man in a blue boiler suit they are hunting.

A Kent Police spokesman said: "The first man was wearing a dark blue boiler suit with a hood up and had his face covered with a distinctive black mask with a zipped front."

Right Cash in Chatham High Street

The shop manager, who did not want to be named, was alone in a store room when he heard the door open.

He said: “I went round, heard the door go and I got a machete right in my throat.”

Mr Collins, who started the independent shop aged 19, said the stolen gold included a 56g nine-carat bracelet and a large selection of gold chains and rings.

He said: “Things have gone missing before, that’s why everything’s in cabinets now, but touch wood nothing ever this serious."

Witnesses are asked to phone police on 101, quoting crime reference 08-0248, or Crimestoppers, anonymously, on 0800 555111.

Billy George Smith, 18, of Beacon Road, Chatham, has been charged with robbery and threatening a person with a bladed article in a public place and is due to appear before magistrates.