The manager of one of three shops robbed at the weekend branded police "pathetic" after the force took four hours to respond to a 999 emergency call.

Officers are hunting robbers after stores in Kelvedon, Eight Ash Green, and Mile End in Colchester were targetted.

Marie Latham, manager of the Onestop store, High Street, Kelvedon, was working on Saturday night when at 8.05pm a man came in and tried to buy some items with a £10 note.

As Mrs Latham tried to put the £10 in the till the man leapt over the counter and grabbed about £150 in notes from the open till.

Husband Paul Latham, also manager of the store, came down from the flat above the shop and immediately phoned 999.

But the police did not arrive and when the shop closed at 11pm Kelly Duthie returned to her home in Feering Hill, where she told her husband, Andrew, about the night's events. He called the police again.

Mrs Latham said officers finally arrived at their flat shortly after midnight.

She said: "It was pathetic.How would you feel, the police gave no explanation why they hadn't turned up? I think if Kelly's husband hadn't called again they wouldn't have even turned up that night."

A police spokesman said: "The bottom line is that this call did not receive the appropriate level of attention it should have done."

"We've seen all those involved and we've apologised for that and we are now looking at what went wrong."

The robber is described as a white male, aged between 18-22 years old, about 5 ft 6ins to 5ft 8ins tall. He was clean shaven with a slim build, wearing a green baseball cap and dark green puffed style jacket made of a cotton material.

Witham Police are appealing for witnesses to the incident and anyone with information is asked to call DC Johnson on 01376 501212 or Crimestoppers on 0800 555111

Published Monday, April 8, 2002