POLICE tackled an armed robber outside a convenience store after staff activated the shop’s alarm.

Stunned staff were confronted by a man brandishing a BB pellet gun at Costcutter, Pooltown Road, Ellesmere Port, just after 10.40pm on Friday.

A nearby patrolling police car heard the alarm and raced to the shop, where they approached and disarmed the man.

Police have confirmed that staff suffered no injuries in the incident.

Karl Joseph Duncan, 44, of Sutton Way, Great Sutton, appeared at Chester and Ellesmere Port Magistrates Court on Monday, charged on suspicion of robbery and possession of an imitation firearm.

He was remanded in custody until February 14 when he will appear at Chester Crown Court.

This is the second serious incident at the store in three months.

In November, police appealed for information after a 37-year-old man lost the sight in his eye following a serious assault at the shop.

Two men got involved in an argument with the victim, punched him in the eye and then kicked him a number of times in the stomach. The offenders then ran off.

The victim suffered a laceration to his eye which he can no longer see out of.