Police alleged the man entered the store and reached for the cash register before a female staff member disturbed him.

Police said the man was handed the till, stole cash, demanded cigarettes and drove away towards Railton.

Police have obtained clear CCTV footage of the man, who they believe to be between 170cm and 180cm tall, getting in a maroon Ford Telstar in front of the store.

Detective Inspector Kim Steven said police were confident that the people who know that vehicle and see the footage would be able to give police a call and help identify who may have been driving it.

“We are also aware there was a female jogging in the area at the same time and a white dual cab utility was seen driving by at the time the robbery occurred,” Inspector Steven said.

“Hopefully those people will see the news and may be able to come forward and be able to give us some more information about what may have occurred.”

He said police could not say what the weapon was that the man was allegedly carrying.

“We believe we know what it is but we are keen to apprehend the person and get them off the streets as soon as possible,” he said

He said the female attendant was shaken up but thankfully was not physically injured.

“We are really encouraged by the quality of the footage that is of outside the building, considering it is still dark at that time of the morning, we do have footage of inside but we haven’t released that.

“We certainly encourage business to have good quality footage they could provide to us.”

Police are asking anyone with information about the robbery to contact Devonport CIB on 6478 4036 or Crime Stoppers anonymously on 1800 333 000 or online at crimestopperstas.com.au