A bank thief portrayed as "highly aggressive" has escaped with an anonymous sum of money from a bank in east Hamilton.

Police have eulogized the deeds of Kiwibank employees in the Hillcrest shopping mall just before noon.

A single man went into the bank and pointed a pistol at a female cashier. He claimed cash and took off from the bank right away. It has not been acknowledged as yet that how much money he took away with him.

Detective Sergeant Karl Moon, of Hamilton CIB, said that long established procedures for bank workers coping with unstable situations had paid off, with the bank employees' obedience giving small opportunity for the criminal to get involved into any kind of disagreement.

Moon said, "He was described as highly aggressive and pointed the firearm in the face of a female teller before demanding money and fleeing the bank on foot with a yet to be determined sum of cash".

He said that they ask people in such situations to abide by the delinquent's demands; for cash and materials can be restored but lives can't be. So, if you find yourself confronted by such a danger comply with what the offender says and document details so that police can follow up afterwards.