A major manhunt was underway last night after gun-toting robbers escaped with cash from a gas station.

It was the second robbery yesterday -- coming just a few hours after a masked man wielding a knife staged a brazen daylight raid on a liquor store.

Last night it was not known if the two robberies were connected but both investigations are being headed by Chf. Insp. Carlton Adams who has set up a major incident room.

Details of the raid on the Riddells Bay Esso Service Centre, on Middle Road, were sketchy last night.

However Police said the robbery took place at about 8 p.m. and involved two men -- one of whom was armed with a gun.

"An emergency call was received around 8 p.m. from the gas station,'' said Police spokeswoman Evelyn James Barnett.

"It is believed two men were involved in the robbery, at least one of whom carried a gun, although there were no shots fired.

"Both men escaped on a motorcycle, heading towards Camp Hill, with an undisclosed amount of cash. There were no injuries,'' she added.

Earlier yesterday a masked man armed with a knife robbed the Burrows Lightbourn Corner Wine Shop in Paget. The robbery happened at about 11.45 a.m.

Richard Hartley of Burrows Lightbourn Ltd. told The Royal Gazette that the culprit, sporting a Hallowe'en mask, long coat and a helmet, forced a sales assistant against the wall, with a knife in his ribs, and made him open the till.

As the thief ran out of the store, the sales assistant pressed the store's panic button and gave chase.

Mr. Hartley added that the lone employee, Allan Marshall, proved to be quite a hero by attempting to thwart the culprit.

"He chased the thief out of the store and threw a stool, that he usually uses to sit on, at him,'' Mr. Hartley said. "As the thief was taking off, he grabbed hold of the bike's basket and tried to tip him off the bike.'' "He (the employee) was very angry that this person had taken money that he felt he was responsible for. He's a fine young man and did a fine job of trying to stop him. But I'd hate to think of what might have happened if he had managed to tip that guy off the bike.'' Mr. Hartley added that Mr. Marshall managed to get the bike's number and provide Police with a description although the culprit was wearing a disguise.

"I guess he's a bit of a hero,'' he said. "He's taken the rest of the day off.'' Two armed robberies staged yesterday The thief, Mr. Hartley said, headed west on Harbour Road, on a motorcycle which was found at Darrell's Wharf.

"He went to Darrell's Wharf, discarded his disguise and the stolen bike and just vanished,'' he revealed.

Mr. Hartley estimated that the thief might have made off with about $1,000 which consisted of the store's float and the morning sales.

"We never leave large sums of money in the store,'' he added. "We have it picked up daily.

"This is the first time one of our store's has been robbed,'' he revealed.

"It's mind boggling that this could happen here.'' Mr. Hartley said the company will now consider installing cameras in their seven stores located throughout the Island.

"We're thinking about cameras but we don't want to become like the US,'' he said. "We want to have a friendly atmosphere. Bermuda's a friendly Island.

But our first concern has to be our staff.'' Anyone will information on either robbery can contact Chf. Insp. Adams at the Police major incident room on 299 4327 or ring Crime Stoppers on 1 800 623 8477.