A WINCHESTER jeweller was held with gun pointed at his head as armed raiders barged in and stole thousands of pounds of luxury watches and jewellery.

Two men wearing motorbike helmets and high visibility jackets walked into Justice British Design Jewellery in Parchment Street with an imitation gun and third man was waiting in a van nearby.

The men made off with a quantity of jewellery and watches from the store before police swooped and made arrests.

Last night, it was revealed that the gang burst in and forced the store's owner, Jon Quayle (pictured below), to the back of the shop with "a gun pressed against his temple".

He was forced to empty out displays of luxury watches and diamond jewellery before the gang attempted their getaway.

Armed officers from the Joint Operations Unit were deployed along with dog units to help officers – and onlookers managed to catch the moment on camera.

No one in Justice Jewellery was harmed in the incident which happened shortly after 9am.

Three men were arrested on suspicion of robbery including two 21-year-old men from Hertfordshire and a 28-year-old man from London.

At least 10 police vehicles and other unmarked police cars parked on both streets shortly after 9am.

The police incident caused gridlock in Winchester as traffic came to a standstill in the city centre as police dealt with the incident.

The drama centred around the loading bay on St George’s Street, where there was intense activity for around an hour until a man was seen being brought out from the loading area and into the back of a police van.

One of the people who saw the robbers was Barry Hede, 44, from Winchester.

Mr Hede said: “The robbers came out running out of the shop and were wearing black helmets.

“I know police managed to get the driver but the other two ran down St George’s Street towards McDonalds loading bay where they have been for 45 minutes.”

He said the two men he saw were dropping money as they were running.

Police were seen searching the area for several hours after the incident and they recovered several items of jewellery in the area.

The driver of the white van, which was parked in Parchment Street was seen being arrested by police outside Bell Fine Art.

According to Catherine O’Brien, co-owner of Candle Co in Parchment Street the vehicle’s escape route was blocked by a van carrying out a routine delivery to the shop.

Mark Stokes, 53, who owns Winchester Photographic in St George’s Street, said: “I saw a police officer with a baton and some body armour running towards McDonald’s yard.

“Within seconds of him running to it I then advanced to the yard – at that point there wasn’t a police presence other than two officers standing there legs apart, taser out ready to shoot but of course they would be shooting someone they can’t see – I learned he was hiding behind a barrel.

“It was taser rather than armed response. They were silent.”

He said he did not see the taser fired, then as he walked away numerous police turned up Detective Inspector Lee Macarthur said: “This happened in the middle of the busy city centre at a time when there were a lot of people around.

“We have spoken to many witnesses from the scene but we know there are more and we would like these people to come forward as they may have information which can assist our investigation.

“We particularly want to speak to two witnesses who saw the two men run from the shop and into the alleyway at the time of the incident as their accounts will be a valuable line of enquiry.

“I want to reassure the public that this incident was dealt with quickly by specialist officers who were on the scene within minutes.”

Last night, Justice Jewellery posted on Twitter that they were determined to reopen the store today, and asked members of the public to visit them and say "Hi".

Witnesses are asked to call DI Macarthur on 101, quoting 44160142505, or Crimestoppers anonymously on 0800 555 111.