A woman in a white boiler suit held up two city centre Manchester banks with a kitchen knife.
The thief walked into Yorkshire Bank on Piccadilly Gardens at around 4.45pm on Wednesday, posing as a customer.
She wrote out a threatening note and slid it under the glass partition demanding money from staff before pulling out a kitchen knife.
The woman is described as white, around 50, with short spiky purple hair, slim build, 5ft 5in tall, with a large nose and a birth mark on the left side of her face and wearing a white boiler suit.
Staff managed to activate the security shields and she fled empty-handed.
CCTV shows the woman then walked across Piccadilly Gardens to the Santander Bank, and demanded money while threatening staff with the same knife. They handed over around £700.
Detective Constable Mike Reed, of GMP’s City of Manchester division, said: “This woman has walked into a city centre bank at a busy time and threatened staff with a knife before forcing them to hand over money. The staff were shaken but fortunately nobody was harmed.
“We are appealing to anyone who may have been in the area at the time and recognises this woman to come forward.”
Anyone with information should call police on 101 quoting crime reference 93583C/16 or 93585X/16, alternatively call Crimestoppers, anonymously, on 0800 555 111.
