Camera footage could assist in the capture of two armed and masked men who tried to rob a fast-food restaurant.

David Furbert, owner of the Mr Chicken outlet raided at the weekend, said police were viewing CCTV footage from the rear of the store to help identify the raiders.

And Mr Furbert praised the cool response of his staff, a woman and two men, after they were faced by the men — one with what appeared to be a handgun and the other with a knife.

Mr Furbert said: “There was no panic — they kept very calm. The first opportunity the female member of staff got, she called the police.

“They weren’t shook up — they were very sensible about the entire situation.”

Mr Furbert added: “Everything happened very quickly — we were closing and the two men approached one of the woman staff members outside the rear of the building.

“They both had their faces covered and one said ‘give us the money.’

“She turned and went inside — I’m assuming they didn’t know there were two males in there. They sort of spooked them and they turned to leave. But they came back and by the time they did, one of the male staff members was outside.

“The woman staff member called the police — they said put the phone down and she did.

“The second male staff member came out and they ran away.”

Mr Furbert was speaking after the attempted robbery at the takeout, which is located at the junction of Devonshire’s Upland St and Watlington Rd East, just after 10pm on Friday.

The raiders struck as the woman staff member put trash outside as the restaurant.

Mr Furbert said: “I thought the staff handled themselves very well and made sure no one got hurt in any way.”

“The building itself has a very good security system in terms of cameras and the police are looking at the footage.”

Mr Furbert lives nearby and was at the scene within minutes of the drama after being informed by staff.

He added: “I was very impressed by the response by police. They were there two minutes after I arrived. They responded very quickly.”

Mr Furbert said that, although there is good CCTV coverage, he planned to improve security at the back of the shop by installing a high gate to prevent access.

He added that the store front faced a busy laundromat, which helped deter trouble and also had security cameras.

“The problem is definitely at the back and we will be alleviating the problem as soon as possible,” he said.

A police spokesman said inquiries are continuing and renewed an appeal for any witnesses to come forward.

The spokesman added the area surrounding Mr Chicken is residential and householders may have information that could help the police probe.

The spokesman said: “Any information, no matter how insignificant it may seem, could be of value to our investigation.”