A teenager brandished a hammer and demanded alcohol in an attempted robbery in Widnes.
Detectives are keen to hear from witnesses and anyone with any video footage that may assist the investigation, after two youths entered a newsagents on Victoria Road at about 9.15pm on Monday.
They were wearing face coverings and dark clothes.
One who was wielding a hammer told the member of staff to hand over some alcohol.
However the man challenged the youths, who fled the shop empty-handed and ran off towards Ashley Way.
Another teenage boy, who was standing outside and also wearing dark clothing and a face covering, ran off the opposite way towards Kingsway.
Cheshire police said the two teenagers who entered the store were white.
The armed youth was wearing a black puffer jacket and black pants and was carrying a black bag around his neck and spoke with a Widnes accent.
Enquiries are ongoing and detectives are urging anyone with any information or footage that may aid their investigation to get in touch.
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Detective Constable Anthony Evans, of Widnes CID, said: “This was a frightening incident that understandably left the man who was working at the shop shaken up.
“There were no customers in the shop at the time of the attempted robbery.
“It is believed to be an isolated incident and we are determined to establish the identities of the teenage boys and deal with them accordingly.
“Enquiries are ongoing and I urge anyone who was in the Victoria Road area of the town centre around the time of the incident to contact us at Widnes Police Station if they saw anything that may help our investigation.
“The same goes for anyone who thinks they may know who the teenage boys are, or have CCTV or dashcam footage of them.”
Anyone with information or footage that may be relevant to the investigation should call Cheshire Constabulary on 101, quoting IML 939444, give the details via https://www.cheshire.police.uk/ro/report or contact Crimestoppers anonymously on 0800 555 111.
