Vienna- A bank robber who had taken a woman hostage in Feldkirch in the westernmost part of Austria on Thursday surrendered to police after having fled across two thirds of the country by car.

The hostage, a 37-year-old bank employee, was safe and unharmed, police spokeswoman Elisabeth Wolfschlucker told Deutsche Presse-Agentur dpa.

Police had monitored the armed suspect as he drove west for around 470 kilometres from the crime scene near the town of Enns, where he was seized by police at a rest stop, she said.

The unmasked man had been armed with a handgun when he entered the bank early in the morning, robbed several 1.000 euros (1.000 euros equals around 1.300 dollars), and left with the hostage, police said earlier. (dpa)