A man has been attacked after inadvertently walking in on an armed robbery in north London in which two suspects made off with handbags worth more than £25,000 ($37,000) on 9 June. Police have released CCTV footage of the burglary at Handbag Clinic in Camden Passage, Islington as they wish to trace the two men seen stealing the valuables.

The footage shows one suspect walking into the shop wearing a motorcycle helmet. When approached by a member of staff, he pulls out a knife and a metal bar from his trouser waistband before walking into the rear of the shop to steal the bags.

A second suspect also wearing a helmet then enters the shop and grabs handbags from the display window, at which point a member of the public walks in.

He is assaulted by the second suspect after attempting to tackle him, before the first suspect pushes him out of the way and both men ride off towards Charlton Place.

Police are keen to hear from anyone who may recognise, or even saw, the two men shown on CCTV. The first suspect is described as wearing a two-tone grey top and grey tracksuit bottoms. The second suspect is described as wearing a dark grey helmet, blue jacket and black trousers.

Anyone with any information is asked to contact police on 101 or 020 7421 0144, quoting reference number 2713934/16, or Crimestoppers anonymously on 0800 555 111.