12 December 2012 Last updated at 06:28 ET

Armed thieves hold up shop in Armadale

Two armed thieves who held up a West Lothian shop before stealing a laptop computer are being sought by police.

The men walked into a store in St Helen's Place, Armadale, at about 06:05 on Tuesday, brandishing a knife, and demanded money from the shopkeeper.

One of the men hit the shopkeeper on the hand, but he managed to raise the alarm and both men ran out the store.

One of them grabbed a laptop computer as they left. The shopkeeper was taken to hospital for treatment.

The two suspects were white. One had a slim to medium build and was wearing a dark jacket, dark-coloured scarf and black gloves.

The other man had a medium to large build, and was wearing a light coloured jacket and black trousers.

Det Sgt Grant Paterson, of Lothian and Borders Police, said: "Fortunately the shopkeeper was not badly injured as a result of this robbery, but it has been a terrible experience for him nonetheless.

"We are appealing for anyone who may have been in or around the shop yesterday morning and who may have seen the men either before or immediately after the incident to contact us."