A brave passerby has spoken of the moment he tried to apprehend a suspect after he robbed the Halifax bank in Teddington at gunpoint.

The bank, in Broad Street, was robbed at gunpoint in broad daylight at about 2.30pm on March 10 by a man in a balaclava who then raced off on a mountain bike.

Antony Newsham, who was the only other customer in the bank at the time, grappled the man as he tried to escape, and claims he held him in a headlock before he wriggled free.

No arrests have been made yet.

Mr Newsham, who lives in nearby High St, said: “He was moving from counter to counter. He had a gun – he was tapping it against the glass. You could tell it was real because it was made of metal. The girls behind the counter looked quite frightened.

“He got about £170 and when he went to leave I pushed him into a table and got him into a headlock.

“He got outside and onto the pavement and he slipped out and ran away down an alleyway.”

When asked why he tried to stop the armed assailant, Mr Newsham, 43, said he felt the suspect was “taking liberties” and that he felt such offences are happening in Teddington more often than they used to.

Mr Newsham, who runs local business A New Roofing and Sons, said: “I have lived all my life in Teddington and I just thought this was taking liberties.

“I go to work every day for my money. I don’t think it’s OK.

“I have lived in Teddington for 43 years and I have seen some changes. This kind of thing happens more.”

A Metropolitan Police spokesman said a “quantity of cash” was stolen in the robbery and no-one was hurt. Officers have appealed for information as they try to find the suspect.

The suspect is a white, skinny, 6ft tall man who was wearing a blue jacket and gloves at the time of the robbery.

An employee of Broad Street Extra, a newsagents located the other side of a Tesco supermarket to the Halifax, said the bank’s employees seemed “shaken up” the day after the robbery.

The man, who wished to remain anonymous, said: “I was not working on the Friday (March 10) but I know the people who work there. They are very nice.

“I heard what happened after and they seemed a bit shaken up. I think they are OK now though.”

Anyone with information about the robbery can contact the police’s flying squad detectives on 101 or via Twitter @MetCC