A Post Office owner shut her business for good after an armed raid left her 'traumatised'.

Jacqueline McEwan, 57, was working at the shop in Brisbane Street, Greenock, when Allan McIntosh stormed in desperately seeking money for drugs.

The 27-year-old brandished what looked like a handgun during the crime on November 23, 2020.

McIntosh eventually fled empty handed when Ms McEwan's colleague Bryan Scott, 35, pressed a panic alarm.

He was held at a nearby station having tried to hide in woods from police.

McIntosh - who had no previous convictions at the time - today pleaded guilty at the High Court in Glasgow to the attempted robbery.

Prosecutor Alan Parfery told how Ms McEwan was left badly affected by the ordeal.

He explained: "She has now closed the business which had been in her family for many years.

"She attributes that to her no longer feeling safe in the shop."

The raider had gone into the Post Office that morning wearing a green bomber jacket, woolly hat and dark face covering.

Mr Parfery said: "He approached Bryan Scott with what appeared to be a black handgun and pointed it at him while pulling the lever back.

"He stated ‘empty the till'."

A worried Ms McEwan crouched behind the till area and tried to activate a silent alarm.

McIntosh, also of Greenock, warned them not to telephone for help.

Mr Scott eventually pressed a panic button and, on hearing the alarm, McIntosh decided to get out the shop, which also had a newsagents.

Mr Parfery stated: "He walked calmly and said ‘your shop won't be here in the morning'."

Police spotted him before he dumped the weapon between parked cars.

The advocate depute added: "He was pursued and scaled a wall and nearby railway bridge before jumping around 20ft to the embankment below."

McIntosh was eventually held on the platform of Greenock West train station.

He confessed: "I done it to feed my valium habit. That gun I had, it is f****d and does not even work.

"It was a desperate attempt to get drugs. It was a CO2 gun and the trigger does not work. It was just an attempt."

The weapon was found to be a broken air pistol classed as an imitation firearm.

Lord Armstrong remanded McIntosh in custody and adjourned sentencing for reports until January 10 next year in Edinburgh.