Bakery Staff Physically Restrained During Armed Robbery At Shopping Centre East of Melbourne

Two bakers and a shopping centre cleaner were tied up and held at gunpoint during an early morning armed robbery in the small town of Yarram, in Victoria's east.

Staff at Yarram Plaza Hot Bread were busy preparing for the day ahead when the male and female assailants entered the plaza complex about 4.15am.

It's believed the offenders were waiting for the Plaza's cleaner to come out and empty the bins before they attacked.

"They grabbed him from there and took him past the front of the bakery by gunpoint to the ATM machine and tried to get into that," said bakery owner Kathryn Ireland.

Hearing a commotion, the two bakery employees went to investigate what was going on, before the attackers turned on them too.

"They were tied up together and placed on the floor in front of our bread slicers while they attempted to get into our cash registers," Ms Ireland said.

"The cleaner of the Plaza was also tied up with our staff."

After unsuccessfully trying to steal cash from both the ATM and bakery register, the attackers fled the scene with two pies.

"All they took was two pies," Ms Ireland said.

Ms Ireland said the incident was a timely reminder of the need for a more regular police presence in the town.

"We did, unfortunately, have to wait a very long period for the police to turn up because there was no-one on call here at the time," she said.

Anyone who witnessed the incident or has dashcam or CCTV footage is urged to contact Crime Stoppers.