Police hunting for at least three in mall bank robbery

Police attend the scene of a bank robbery at the Westpac bank at the Albany Westfield shopping centre in Auckland. Picture / Steven McNicholl

Police investigating the armed robbery of a cash-in-transit van on Auckland's North Shore on Tuesday say at least three and possibly four offenders were involved.

Two of the men, one armed with a sawn-off shotgun, held up security officers outside Westpac Bank at the Albany shopping mall about 10.30am.

They took off with an undisclosed sum of cash in a stolen getaway car and drove to nearby Pak'n Save, where they dumped the vehicle and got into another car.

It was initially reported there were only two offenders but it had been established there was at least one other man who drove the first getaway car, Detective Sergeant James Watson said.

"I'm more inclined to think there were four because of the number of cars involved."

Mr Watson today provided a more detailed description of the gunman: he was Maori, of medium height and build, wearing a black baseball cap, a bandana across his face, a green T-shirt, blue jeans and Nike shoes with a distinctive fluorescent green tick.

The first getaway car driver of the car was tall and thin and wore a dark, charcoal grey hoodie.

Mr Watson said police were still reviewing CCTV footage of the men as they left the scene outside the bank.

They were also looking at possible connections to a similar armed robbery in Chartwell, Hamilton, last week in which two armed men robbed another cash-in-transit van.

He appealed for information about either incident.

- NZPA