Safety fears for Bunbury chemist staff

Bunbury pharmacy owners fear for the safety of their staff following the second armed robbery on a pharmacy in as many months.

In the latest incident on Monday at South City Chemmart on Spencer Street, staff were threatened by a man wielding a Gyprock saw and tyre lever.

Pharmacy owner Mala Shah said her staff were obviously shaken from the incident.

"It was pretty scary - not just for staff but customers as well," she said.

"We provide a service to the public and we have to open at all hours because people need pharmacies."

Mrs Shah said the pharmacy had an effective security system in place - including a good camera system.

"People just need to be vigilant and hopefully this sort of thing doesn't happen again," she said.

A Collie man has been arrested and charged over the robbery.

The first incident on May 20 at Pharmacy Plus, also on Spencer Street in Bunbury, again involved staff being threatened.

A man armed with a syringe demanded cash and medication before running to a car parked nearby.

Police stopped the car soon after and arrested a Nannup couple.

Pharmacy Plus manager Ashraf Abid said his employees were still recovering from the incident.

"Our staff were very shaken up and one staff member was unable to return to work," he said.

"It was a very traumatic incident and he has been receiving counselling and ongoing support."

Mr Abid said he was concerned this type of crime had happened twice in two months - but it was hard to say what could avoid another incident.

"We have security procedures and policies in place and have made some small changes since the armed hold-up," he said.

Both pharmacy managers praised the efforts of South West detectives and police in responding to both armed robberies.

Det-Sen. Const. James Gaunt said it was hard for police to do anything "proactively" to stop pharmacy hold-ups.

But most pharmacies were security-conscious, he said.

"We were able to respond to both incidents quickly and we would not have been able to do that without the valuable asset of local police," he said.