Cops on armed robber's trail

A chubby, bearded man used a knife during a robbery of the National Bank in Onehunga. Photo / Supplied

Avondale police are following a number of leads in the hunt for an armed bank robber following a front-page splash in yesterday's newspaper.

Police received dozens of calls from members of the public after pictures of a chubby, bearded man - who has robbed three National Bank branches in Auckland in the past six months - were featured in yesterday's Herald.

Detective Chris Anstey said police were happy with the large number of responses.

But he encouraged the public to continue to call with information.

"We've had a number of responses from a number of different people and we're following those inquiries."

Mr Anstey said they had received a couple of strong leads which would be followed up first. Asked whether police had discovered the identity of the man, he said it was too early to go into such details.

The robber has struck three times; first in July at a shopping centre in Onehunga, the second time in November at a National Bank in Dominion Rd and most recently last Friday, when he turned up with a machete at a bank in Mt Albert.

In each of the three cases he seemed calm, quietly telling bank staff to "give me all the money" and, on one occasion, gently laying a machete on the counter and saying: "This is a robbery."

Despite his lack of disguise, no one had identified him and police were stunned he had managed to get away with it for so long.

A team of investigators from the National Bank are also making inquiries into the robberies.

A spokeswoman for the bank said last night it was always unpleasant when staff had to deal with a robbery - particularly an armed robbery - but these incidents had been especially frightening.

"These robberies were particularly nasty and dangerous attacks and, like all robbery attacks, they were incredibly stressful and traumatic for our staff.

"Thankfully, no customers or staff were harmed and our people who were involved are okay."

The spokeswoman said employees involved had been offered counselling.

If you recognise the man or have any information about him, phone Avondale police on (09) 820-5700 or Crimestoppers on 0800-555-111