STAFF at a popular toy shop are appealing for witnesses after a man and a woman allegedly attempted to steal toys from their store and threatened to stab one of the owners.

A member of staff at the shop, who wishes to remain anonymous, claims a man and a woman entered G W Hurley Toy Shop in High Street, Burnham-on-Sea, at around 1.30pm on Wednesday (February 12) and filled a Sports Direct shopping bag with £160 worth of Lego and then attempted to leave the store without paying for the items.

The staff member claims colleagues then confronted the pair but they became 'aggressive' and started being violent and attempted to flee on foot.

"I stepped in as soon as I saw what was going on," the staff member said.

"It escalated really quickly. The man started trying to push past me as he tried to leave the store. I grabbed the bag and attempted to get it off of him but there was lots of shoving and pushing and he managed to take it.

"I called Colin Morris, one of the shop owners, to let him know what was going on and he tried to chase the pair on foot. A struggle followed and the man threatened to stab Colin but he managed to grab the bag of Lego before the man and woman fled on foot.

"Colin didn't see a knife but he shouldn't be having to deal with this, he is a 74 year old man who just wants to run his business."

The staff member claims they called the police on 999 shortly after the incident but so far no police officers have come to their store.

"I am absolutely disgusted by the lack of police response. I called 999 yesterday just after the incident happened at around 1.30pm but so far there has been no response from the police," the staff member said.

"We can't afford for things like this to happen, business is hard enough as it is.

"We have had more and more incidents of shop lifting over the past few months and we are having to police our own store as we're not getting much help.

"I understand that the police are stretched but it is awful that we have to police our own store.

"The man was of medium build, around 5ft 6 with a tattoo on his cheek. I would say he is in his 30's and was dressed in dark clothing.

"The woman was a similar age and height. She was of medium build and had long black hair. She was also dressed in dark clothing and she carried a Sports Direct bag."

A spokesperson for Avon and Somerset Police, said the incident is being investigated and anyone with information should contact them.

"We were called to reports of an attempted robbery at a shop in High Street, Burnham-on-Sea at about 1.50pm yesterday (Wednesday)," the spokesperson said.

"The suspect took an item and when challenged by a member of staff, threatened him, claiming to have a knife.

"No weapon was seen. The suspect left leaving the stolen item behind.

"Police enquiries into the incident are continuing.

"Anyone with information is asked to contact us, quoting reference 5220035338."