A guest at a five star hotel saw a masked man threaten an employee with a gun and thought she was watching a film shoot.

Patricia James, 58, witnessed an armed robbery which resulted in Rolex watches worth £516,750 allegedly being taken from a boutique at the Gleneagles Hotel in Perthshire.

Mrs James saw a group of masked men leave an Audi car outside the exclusive resort.

She said she saw a man in black run into the hotel wearing a "Halloween" mask with a hood over his head carrying a hammer.

Richard Fleming , 42, of London, has denied a string of offences linked to the raid on the Perthshire hotel on June 27 last year.

Mrs James said witnessing the situation made her feel stressed and she wanted to leave the scene immediately.

She told prosecution lawyer Jane Farquharson: "Initially I thought it was some sort of film shoot.

"I thought there was filming going on and the hotel forgot to tell us that it was happening.

"I didn't know what to do with myself.

"I heard shouting and I remember thinking to myself that this was something more than a film shoot."

She told the court on Tuesday that she and her partner William Goldie were checking out of the hotel at the time of the robbery.

Mrs James said an Audi car headed towards the front door at speed.

She said: "He had on a black outfit. He had a hood over his head and a Halloween face mask.

"He was carrying a heavy hammer.

"He ran past me and up the front steps and into the hotel.

"I was making an effort to remove myself from the situation."

She said that a Gleneagles employee had came out of the hotel and tried to speak to the men.

But she said the staff member was threatened from the car window.

She added: "The window was down or lowered and the person in the back pointed a gun.

"He warned the Gleneagles employee to stay back or he would shoot. I believe he swore.

"I believe it was 'get back or I will effing shoot you'."

Mrs Agnes Whetton,62, told the court that she and a group of friends had gone to the hotel for afternoon tea and a "behind the scenes" tour.

She saw two masked men rush past her who were dressed in black.

Mrs Whetton said they were carrying weapons.

She said: "My first reaction was that it was a police SWAT person as they were dressed all in black.

"I noticed that the person was wearing a mask which was quite scary.

"I also saw the person carrying a machete.

"It was held up in a high position. It was quite frightening."