Dunedin dairy owner vows to sell up after latest robbery

Manjinder Sandhu says the spate of attacks has made her decide to move to the country with her kids. Photo / ODT

A dairy owner says she selling up after spree of holdups by a pair of armed masked robbers.

Police in Dunedin say the attackers remain on the loose.

On Sunday night, a masked man and woman stole $1000 worth of cigarettes and loose tobacco from a St Kilda shop. They fled in a red Mazda hatchback.

On Monday, the same pair appear to have robbed the Elgin Food Market in another area of the city. A man and woman matching their description robbed the Musselburgh Food Centre last month at gunpoint.

Manjinder Sandhu, who owns a St Kilda dairy, said she had been robbed at knifepoint two years ago, but the recent spate of robberies meant enough was enough. She had decided to sell her business and move to the country with her young children.

"My husband is a dairy farmer so we will move to the farm. I don't feel comfortable here in the evenings."

Originally from India, Sandhu said her business was already suffering after she cut her hours to avoid night-time or early-morning burglaries.

"Before this, I had a picture of New Zealand as a crime-free place."

Sunny Sun, co-owner of the Elgin Food Market, said a man brandished a pistol when a couple robbed the shop on Monday night.

The pair rushed behind the counter, grabbed a till containing about $1500, and made a hasty exit.

Sun said the pair apparently knew exactly where to go. "They knew the place well."

She, too, had considered selling the business after the incident, her second robbery in just over a year.

The store's recently installed security system meant it was bristling with CCTV cameras, and the masked pair were again caught on tape.

Police confirmed the man and woman remained at large and the investigation was ongoing.

The red hatchback used by the pair is also believed to have been involved in a petrol drive-off on Sunday at the Challenge Fitzroy service station.