Police are appealing for information following an armed robbery at a shop in Preston last month.

At around 8:50pm on 14 October, two men went in to the Grange Convenience Store on Grange Avenue in Preston wearing balaclavas.

One offender threatened the shop assistant with a knife, passed her a bag and demanded that she empty the contents of the till into the bag.

A friend of the victim, who was the only other person in the store at the time, was directed to stay in the store room by the second offender. He was also threatened with a knife.

The two men then left the shop with the bag full of money and ran from the store in the direction of Fir Trees Avenue.

Detective Constable Marcus Latham said; “We are appealing for anyone who may have any information to come forward.

“I would ask anyone who saw anything suspicious either around the time of the incident or in the hours or days leading up to the attack to contact us.

“This was an extremely traumatising incident for both the shop assistant and her friend. Very fortunately, they were uninjured but were understandably shaken and so I would urge anyone who has any information to come forward, even the smallest piece of information could be crucial.”

The first offender was described as between 5 feet 8 inches tall with a slim build. He was wearing a black tracksuit, black gloves and a black balaclava. He was carrying a white plastic carrier bag and he had a local accent.

The second man is described as around 5 feet 10 inches tall with a slim build. He was wearing a black, hooded jacket with a red badge on the left hand side of the chest, black leather gloves, dark coloured waterproof tracksuit bottoms and black trainers.

Anyone with any information can contact police on 08451 25 35 45 or Crimestoppers on 0800 555 111.

A Leyland man has been jailed for sexually assaulting a teenager in Chorley.

Zulfikar Ahmad Nawaz, 56, of Balshaw Road, Leyland appeared at Preston Crown Court on Friday 11 November where he was sentenced.

He was sentenced to five years in prison with a five year extended licence period. He will be on the sex offenders’ register for life and is subject to a ten year sex offences prevention order (SOPO), which will prohibit him from driving any passenger carrying vehicle during this period.

Nawaz was convicted of sexual assault on Friday 7 October after a two week trial.

He was working as a taxi driver at around 3am on 5 December 2010 when he refused to stop his taxi outside the home address of his teenage male victim. He took the victim to a secluded dirt-track near Chorley where he sexually assaulted him.

The victim pushed Nawaz away and managed to run off. Nawaz was arrested on the same day.

Det Sgt Phil Bowerbank said: “Fortunately these sorts of offences are very rare but I hope this provides some reassurance to the local community that this man is now behind bars.

“I am pleased with the sentence given which reflects the nature of the offence. I hope this outcome will now help the victim to put the incident behind him and move on with his life.

“We are committed to investigating offences of this nature and we will continue to put offenders before the courts.”

Finally, detectives investigating the death of a baby boy found dead in Kirkham have launched a Facebook advertising campaign to try to trace the mother.

Officers have also recorded a direct video appeal to the baby’s mum which appears on Lancashire Constabulary’s Youtube page.

Detective Inspector Martin Clague from the Force Major Investigation team said: “Things like Youtube, Facebook and other social network sites are part of people’s everyday lives and by using them we can hopefully reach some people, and maybe even the mother herself, that we haven’t through our other appeals.”

The body of the baby boy was found on Saturday, October 1st in Spen Brook, a few hundred yards away from the Boys Brigade Club on Carr Lane in Kirkham.

You can view the video below.