The Macintosh St service station was hit around 10.30pm when two of the trio, dressed in dark clothes and balaclavas, burst in and intimidated the lone console operator. The group’s third member stayed at the door to act as a lookout.

The men threw boxes of chocolate at the clerk, but were not brandishing any obvious weapons. One stormed the counter and grabbed the cash register, while the other took money from a safe that was open as the day’s takings were being counted.

The attendant was not hurt in the hold-up, but the robbers got away with a sum of cash in the low thousands of dollars.

Manning Great Lakes inspector Chris Hurst said there was not enough evidence to link the hold-up with others recently executed by three robbers in balaclavas. Last month a family was tied up and their dog stabbed as three intruders robbed their Hallidays Point house, and two weeks later a Forster restaurant manager was threatened as her business was ransacked by three similarly-described men.

“We’re always investigating links between other local robberies if they fit the bill,” Inspector Hurst said.

“The problem is you can put a balaclava on anyone and they’ll be identified as a suspect. In these cases we rely heavily on eye-witness accounts and forensics, and those investigations are ongoing.”