Christchurch pharmacy held up at gunpoint

A police spokesman said they were alerted to the armed robbery about 1.30pm. File photo

A Christchurch pharmacy has been held up at gunpoint this afternoon.

An armed man entered Waltham Pharmacy in the suburb of Sydenham and demanded "drugs and money" at around 1.30pm.

A pharmacy worker said the lone robber was shouting and was carrying what looked like a gun.

"I wasn't sure if it was real or not,' he said.

"He was pretty much shouting, 'Where's the safe? Where's the drugs and money'."

The man fled the scene in a car with an undisclosed sum of money and some drugs, the worker said.

The suspect was followed by a police patrol car.

A police spokesman said they were alerted to the armed robbery about 1.30pm.

The suspect's car was stopped at Byron St nearby and the man was apprehended.

The pharmacy will be closed for the rest of today.

The worker said staff were shaken up but had not been harmed in the incident.