THREE terrified woman were held hostage in a Petersfield travel agency on Friday afternoon, as robbers ransacked the tills. Two of the women were members of staff at the Thomson office, on the corner of Chapel Street and The Square, and one was a member of the public. All three were young women in their 20s. Detective Constable Dave Holden, who is leading the investigation, told The Herald: "They were held for less than an hour, but obviously it felt like a lifetime." And now detectives in Alton are appealing for witnesses to the robbery, describing the women's ordeal as a "terrifying incident". At 4-30 pm, said police, three men went into the travel agency and held the women against their will while helping themselves to cash and travellers' cheques. After the robbery, the men ran off in the direction of the Swan Street car park. Dc Holden said: "Fortunately, the women in the shop were not hurt during what must have been a terrifying incident. However, I would like to reassure people that it was not a violent attack and no weapons were seen." He said all three women had received strong support from the police, from their employers and from their families. The men are described as black, 6' to 6' 1", of thin build and aged in their mid 20s. All three were wearing sports-style clothing and hooded tops. One man was wearing a dark-coloured top with white stripes and a baseball cap; the second man was wearing a light grey hoodie, dark bottoms and a baseball cap; and the third man was wearing dark clothing. A number of people have reported seeing three men matching these descriptions in Petersfield town centre from around 3-30 pm, in the areas of Rams Walk, High Street, Chapel Street and Lavant Street. Dc Holden said: "I would like to hear from anyone who was in Petersfield on Friday afternoon and saw three men matching these descriptions. In particular, I am keen to trace anyone who was in the Swan Street area between 4-45 pm and 5 pm and saw three men getting into a vehicle. "I'd also like to hear from anyone who saw any vehicles, containing at least three black men, driving out of Petersfield around the same time." "We are still at an early stage of what is quite a large police investigation," he told The Herald. But he said he was encouraged by the help he had received from members of the public. "Quite a few people have come forward and we are following up lots of leads at the moment," he said. One Petersfield shopper in the town centre on Friday afternoon told The Herald: "It looked as though something really serious had happened. There were policemen everywhere and they had cordoned off the whole corner of the street. A group of people were talking to the police inside the cordon. The place was crawling with police cars and lots of shoppers gathered around to try and find out what was going on. "All the time all this was happening, people carried on eating their meals in the restaurant next door and kept looking through the windows, rather baffled." A spokesman for Thomson told The Herald: "Three men entered the shop and took cash, foreign currency and travellers' cheques. Two members of staff and one member of the public were involved, but no one was harmed. The shop staff are co-operating with the local authorities and Thomson has offered them professional support." Thomson was one of three businesses targeted by criminals in separate incidents during the week. Last Thursday, burglars broke into Somerfield supermarket in the High Street in the early hours of the morning, by cutting a hole in the fire door. The burglars managed to get into the shop and an unknown quantity of money was stolen. Sometime between Sunday evening and Monday morning, burglars broke into Woolworths, also on the High Street, but it is not known what was taken. Anyone with any information on the Thomson robbery should contact Alton CID on 0845 045 45 45 or Crimestoppers anonymously on 0800 555 111.
