Cabbie held up at gunpoint

Police are hunting a man who held up a taxi driver at gunpoint in Napier.

The man called the taxi to the corner of Wycliffe St and Oldham Ave about 9.45pm on Tuesday, police said.

When the taxi reached a nearby address in Harold Holt Ave, he threatened the driver with a gun and demanded cash.

After a struggle the man fled down an alley towards Oldham Rd.

He was described as a Maori, about 20 years-old, who was wearing a light-coloured hooded sweatshirt and dark coloured trousers.

Police appealed anyone who may have seen the man before or after the incident to contact them and asked businesses and residents in the area to search their properties for any clothing that may have been discarded.

Police said the firearm was a heavy pistol or sawn-off shotgun about 30cm long.

- NZPA