Terrified customers "stampeded'' from the Bank of Butterfield at the Southampton Princess yesterday after a masked man walked in and fired a shot.

He fled with an undisclosed amount of cash in the third armed robbery at the same branch in 11 years.

Nobody was injured in yesterday's 1.30 p.m. heist, although the branch was crowded with customers cashing their paycheques at lunch time. Contrary to earlier reports that the gun may have been fake, Police Insp. Sinclair White last night said it was real.

Police said the man fled with an accomplice who was waiting outside on a red motorcycle.

They left American currency scattered on the floor.

The masked robber was described as five feet, five inches to five feet, seven inches tall, with very light brown skin. He wore a blue denim jacket with a pair of knee-length shorts. His accomplice was described as slightly taller with light brown skin. He wore a blue shirt and a white helmet.

Police combed the area yesterday afternoon and used a stepladder to look behind ceiling tiles in the bank, possibly looking for the bullet the man fired.

Some witnesses claimed to heard two shots, but Police only confirmed one.

Insp. White would also not confirm witnesses' reports that the mask the man wore was orange, or that the man first entered the branch without the mask before stepping outside again to put it on.

The hotel concierge, who has worked at the Southampton Princess for 23 years, said he was standing by the bell desk when he "saw everybody stampeding -- running out of the bank''.

The man, who was wearing a mask and carrying a bag, ran out the side door and behind a hedge, where his cycle was likely parked, he said.

The concierge said he was standing in the same spot on October 18, 1983 -- almost 11 years to the day of yesterday's incident -- when Mr. Rolfe Commissiong robbed the branch of $30,000 in cash and traveller's cheques and escaped on a cycle. He also fired a shot and was later sentenced to eight years in prison.

"It was very similar -- he was in and out,'' the concierge said.

On March 16, 1990, a man with a machete robbed the Southampton Princess branch again and escaped on a cycle hidden in bushes. He was never caught.

Mr. Colin Furr, executive vice-president (banking) for the Bank of Butterfield, said yesterday he did not know why the branch was attractive to robbers, but security was being reviewed.

A sign on the door yesterday said: "Closed until further notice.'' Mr. Furr said he expected the branch would reopen on Monday.