A FAMILY-run shop has been robbed by masked gunmen twice in just three months.

In the latest robbery on Thursday (April 4), two men held a shop worker at gunpoint as they stole more than £1,100 from a store in a residential area of Ramsey.

The men, both dressed in black, entered the Seven Days Convenience Store, in Field Road – one armed with a handgun and the other with pepper spray – just before 9.30pm.

They told Malinda Fernando, who was covering for store owner Sajith Sriskandarajah and his wife, Doreen, who were having dinner upstairs, to get on the floor and keep his head down while they broke into the till and ransacked the alcohol and cigarette shelves.

Mr Sriskandarajah, who has run the convenience store with his brother Manoj for the past two years, told The Hunts Post: “Malinda is meant to be here for an Easter break from London and we asked him to look after the shop.

“Apparently the men waited outside for about 10 minutes before coming in. They were wearing all black and had thick masks pulled down over their faces and collars over their mouths.

“Malinda wasn’t able to get to the emergency alarm as he was too far away, but the back door was open and he was able to run upstairs to tell us that there were two men robbing the shop.

“By the time we came down they had gone. They were in the store for about five minutes.”

The 40-year-old shopkeeper said one of the men was about 5ft 4in tall and was overweight. The other was 5ft 6in tall and skinny. One carried a red rucksack.

The robbers took at least £1,100 from the till plus cigarettes and alcohol. They left the shop and ran down an alleyway, metres away, towards Slade Close.

A search, involving a police helicopter and officers with dogs, was not able to find the suspects.

Mr Sajith Sriskandarajah said Mr Fernando, 26, had been left shaken.

It is the second time this year that the shop has been targeted. On January 6, again in the evening at about 9.30pm, three armed men entered the store and stole cash, cigarettes and alcohol.

Mr Sajith Sriskandarajah said the robbers got away with more last time as they had more time to grab items from the shop, but due to Mr Fernando’s bravery, the male robbers were forced to flee.

Cambridgeshire police told The Hunts Post Officers weare linking the two incidents.

Neighbour Bernice Garrett said: “I’m very glad they were unharmed. They are very nice people. When I broke my foot earlier this year in the snow, they brought my shopping around.”

INFORMATION: Anyone with any information should call police on 101 or Crimestoppers, anonymously, on 0800 555111.