An armed robber wearing an Iron Man mask has attempted an early morning hold up a service station in Sydney's inner-west.
The man, armed with a gun and a knife, and wearing the red and gold comic-book hero mask entered the Hurlstone Park store at 1am.
The service station employee managed to lock himself in a storage area and called the police.
The masked bandit, described as being aged between 20 and 25, 180cm tall and of medium to large build, then fired a shot towards the counter before running off down Canterbury Road empty handed.
No one was injured during the brief encounter.
Police, including the dog squad, searched the nearby area but were unable to find the offender who was also wearing a grey hooded jumper and black pants.
Detectives are still searching for the man and anyone with information is urged to contact police.
The robbery comes a week after a man wearing a Santa suit robbed an Oak Park post office in Victoria.
