COPS are searching for a spotty teenager with "bushy eyebrows” following an incident where a man was threatened with a knife.

The victim, a 20-year-old man from the Southend area, was walking along Milton Road into Westcliff Parade, towards the Cliffs Pavilion, at about 1.30pm on Wednesday, January 22, when he was approached by a man carrying a knife.

The man demanded the victim’s phone but he refused. The victim gave the suspect £10 instead and ran off to get help.

The suspect is described as a white man, of slim build, and in his late teens to early twenties, and about 5ft 7to 5ft 8ins tall. He had dark brown or black thick bushy eyebrows and grey eyes.

He was clean shaven with a spotty complexion, and wore a dark blue New York Yankees baseball cap, a dark blue balaclava with a pattern of little crossed guns over it.

Investigating officer, Dc Shelley Utley, said: "This robbery happened in broad daylight in quite a busy stretch of road. I’m hoping that someone may have been passing and remember the man with bushy eyebrows or have seen this distinctive balaclava with the crossed guns on it. If you can help in any way please get in touch.”

Anyone with information is urged to contact Dc Utley, or her colleagues at Southend, on 101. Alternatively, call Crimestoppers anonymously on 0800 555 111.