A masked gunman entered a Mount Maunganui pub and pointed a weapon at the manager, demanding he hand over money.

‘It was really frightening. He pointed the gun right at me,” said the man, who Stuff has agreed not to name. 'I don't know what type of gun it was as I don't know anything about guns, but it was some type of revolver.”

The attack happened at 9.30am on Thursday at the Cheers Tavern, Owen's Place, Mount Maunganui. Two customers were in the pub at the time, he said.

'They were in the next room playing on the pokie machines. One of them heard the loud noise, so they came into the part where I was to see what was going on. When they saw the man with the gun they went back into the games room.”

The gunman shouted at the manager to give him the money out of the till, and snatched all the cash, cleaning out the business.

'Then he sped off in a black car.”

Police came within ten minutes, he said.

'They were very good. They came to help quickly. And gave me details for counselling as I am still pretty shocked today and trying to heal from what happened.”

The manager of Cheers Tavern wasn't hurt 'but it's hard when I think about what happened”. Photo: Stuff.

The tavern, which has a large pokie area and is popular with local workers, was closed Thursday but back open on Friday. The manager is having some time off to recover, he said.

'I was not hurt, but it's hard when I think about what happened.”

Police are now looking for witnesses who may have seen the incident or the offender fleeing the scene in a black vehicle following the robbery of Owens Pl about 9.30am.

'It's alleged the man took money from the cash register and left the scene in a black vehicle,” police said in a statement.

Annemarie Quill/Stuff