A would-be Christmas Eve robber armed with a saw blade fled empty-handed after a supermarket cashier refused to hand over cash.

A senior staff member at Arnold’s in St John’s Road, Pembroke, said yesterday: “Our butcher was talking to a customer at the back of the store when he heard the cashier at the front calling.

“He ran to the front but he was already gone before he got there.

“The man said to the cashier he didn’t want to hurt anyone, he just needed money.

“But the cashier told him she couldn’t open the register.”

Staff said the raider wore a helmet and a surgical bandage over most of his face when he entered the store.

The masked man fled the supermarket after he threatened the woman with the blade.

The incident happened at about 6.40pm and police have appealed for witnesses.

In a separate incident on Saturday, police said a passenger on a motorcycle was arrested after he was caught by police with a knife and “a quantity of plantlike material”.

The man was caught after the bike was stopped at a police checkpoint on South Road at about 8.30pm.

A police spokesman added that 48 people were arrested for various offences over the Christmas period.

A total of ten people were arrested on suspicion of drink driving and 50 tickets were issued for offences including drugs, theft and traffic violations.