Three masked men armed with a pump-action shotgun and two hammers struck at a goldsmith shop in Sungai Bakap on Saturday, before escaping with more than RM500,000 in jewellery.

The gunman fired a warning shot in the air before the trio escaped in a white Proton Wira.

The 1pm hold-up was over in less than five minutes.

Seberang Perai Selatan police chief Supt Wan Hassan Wan Ahmad said there were no customers at the time of the robbery.

He said the two men armed with hammers smashed the glass display cabinet and emptied 10 trays of jewellery into a bag.

Wan Hassan said the police would view recording from a closed-circuit television camera installed at the goldsmith shop to facilitate investigations.