Gold Coast 'blowtorch bandit' captured on CCTV trying to rob Ashmore service station

Police on the Gold Coast are hunting a would-be-robber dubbed the "blowtorch bandit" whose bizarre weapon of choice and bungled plan-of-attack was captured on CCTV footage.

The masked suspect was seen entering BP service station at Ashmore at about 1am on Sunday armed with a knife and a blowtorch.

He can first be seen brandishing the knife at the shop assistant behind the counter but after being thwarted by security wires the suspect decides to change tact and uses the blowtorch to threaten the worker across the counter.

But not everything went to plan for the armed bandit, with the flame from the blowtorch burning his hand as he reached across the counter to try and get at the cash register.

"Look I can't say I recall a similar incident such as this, certainly it's an unusual weapon to use for this type of offence," said Detective Inspector Brian Swan from Queensland Police.

The shop assistant remained out of reach in a secure area behind the counter and was unhurt during the encounter.

And as for the suspect, he eventually fled the store with nothing more than a damaged ego, leaving a smouldering EFTPOS machine on the service station counter.