Police have not ruled out the possibility the latest armed robbery may be linked with a raid on the Nether Inn in the city centre in broad daylight the previous Monday.

There, the pair threatened two members of staff with a firearm and made off with a near four-figure sum in pound coins.

Around half an hour after the raid at the hotel, a brave Broughty Ferry woman came face to face and challenged one of the suspected armed robbers as he attempted to steal her car on Monday night.

Heather Wallace said she would not have been so brave in attacking the man had her mother’s ashes not been in the car. The 50-year-old mother of two said in hindsight she couldn’t quite believe her actions. It is believed the man was attempting to use the car as a getaway vehicle.

She was confronted by the man in her house at 11pm. He grabbed her keys and entered her car, and Mrs Wallace chased after him and into the passenger seat, diving at the man sitting across from her and started hitting him.

The man, who she described as being scruffy, took off out of the car and down the street. He is described as between 19 to 20, 5’ 11” and was wearing a green hooded top and jeans. He had dirty blond wavy hair and blue eyes.

The hotel incident was the second armed robbery in the city in a matter of hours. It happened less than four hours after the Ferry Road newsagents, in Broughty Ferry Road, was robbed by a man wielding a knife.

The man, who police have warned is dangerous and should not be approached, made off with a sum of cash made up of various denominations and was last seen heading east along Ferry Road. No one was hurt.

Police are urging an anonymous man who contacted them around 8.15am yesterday to get back in touch. The man, who may have vital information, can also anonymously contact Crimestoppers on 0800 555 111.

Anyone with information that can help with inquiries should contact the police or Crimestoppers.