When two people, armed with a hammer and knife, attempted to rob a Rotorua dairy the owner set off a fog cannon, sending them running.
About 8pm last nighttwo people entered the Pleasant Heights Dairy on Thomas Cres.
Rotorua police area prevention manager Inspector Brendon Keenan said the people were armed with a hammer and a knife and had demanded cigarettes and money.
He said the dairy owner then set off a fog cannon, which sent the pair running.
A fog cannon is a security device that fills rooms with dense fog in a matter of seconds.