A NATIONAL manhunt is now under way for a suspected armed robber linked to two bank heists in Gloucester.
Five counties across the UK are now searching for 49-year-old Lyndon Stein in connection with the offences.
Police believe he is behind raids on buildings societies, banks and travel agents in Gloucester, Bristol, Greater Manchester, Cheshire and Oxford.
Santander, in Westgate Street, was targeted on Saturday at 3pm, just a fortnight after the Leeds Building Society, in Northgate Street, was raided.
New CCTV images from the earlier robbery at Leeds Building Society, in which £200 was taken, have now been released.
In the foiled raid at Santander, the man left empty handed because a quick-thinking cashier pulled down a security shutter.
Police said an appeal has led to a number of potential sightings but none in Gloucester. Officers do not believe he will try to flee the country.
A spokesman for Avon and Somerset Police said: "His crime spree is thought to have totalled thousands of pounds. We'd now like to speak to Stein or anyone who knows where he is."
The man is described as white, of a stocky build and normally carries a plastic carrier bag during the offence.
Stein absconded on April 29 from Springhill Prison in Oxford and the next day the first in the series of robberies were committed. Police said he struck again on May 5 at a Thomas Cook in Bristol before making his way to Gloucester to target the Leeds Building Society on May 7.
A further Bristol robbery occurred on May 9, then he is said to have made his way to Warrington on May 15 targeting a Lloyds TSB and a Thomas Cook. This week alone police think he struck at Thomas Cook in Kingswood as well as Santander in Gloucester. Anyone with information is asked to call Bristol CID on 101.
