An armed robber who raided a shop last night appears to have struck another store just 48 hours earlier.

Vida & Sons, in Porters Avenue, Dagenham, was robbed on Monday afternoon by a man with a handgun who threatened to shoot customers while he waited for the tills to be emptied.

In CCTV footage of the incident, the man appears to be wearing the same clothes – and wielding the same pistol – as a robber who targeted Hunters Convenience Store in Wood Lane, Dagenham, yesterday night.

On that occasion the man took about £200, and on Monday £230 was taken.

“Anyone with a gun will scare people,” a man whose family has owned Vida & Sons for about six years – but requested not to be named – said.

“A customer came in just after he got the gun out and said, ‘Call the police’ – but the robber pointed the gun at him and said, ‘If you phone the police, I will shoot you’.”

The man, who is Lithuanian, said he is convinced the robber is from the same country as “he was definitely speaking Lithuanian”.

“He needs to be caught,” he said. “He is targeting everyone.”

But he said there is no chance of the incident affecting his business.

“We would never close because of something like this,” he added.