Police are investigating the armed robbery of a tavern in Moree early yesterday morning.

About 12:45am (Wednesday 23 October 2013), a 51-year-old man closed the tavern for the evening. Soon after he left, an alarm was activated and he returned to check on the premises.

About 1:00am, he found the rear door had been forced open. While patrolling the tavern, he was confronted by a man armed with an edged weapon, and was directed to a walk-in safe at the rear of the hotel.

The man stole cash, before locking the man in the safe and leaving the tavern. A short time later, another employee arrived and freed the victim from the safe. No one was hurt during the incident.

Officers attached to Barwon Local Area Command attended and established a crime scene which was examined by specialist forensic officers.

Detectives are now looking for the man who was only described as wearing dark clothing and had his face covered at the time.