Shop hero says: I'm too old for this

Shafait Hussan Khan was left with a cut to his hand as he tackled a knife-wielding robber at the Intercontinental Food Centre, Heene, just after 4.30pm on Tuesday.

Police are linking this attempted robbery with another less than 300 metres away at the All Photo camera shop, also in Tarring Road, 45 minutes later. They believe three separate men were involved.

Mr Khan, 64, said he heard the man come into the shop when a bell on the door rang.

He said: "I was inside my office reading the paper when the security bell went. I came out from the office and asked the gentleman 'Can I help you?'.

"He walked up to the counter. I was only a foot away from him, and he said 'Open the till'. I did not say anything. I was not ready for all this. All of a sudden I saw a knife, maybe six, seven inches long, and he pointed it towards me.

"I grabbed him near the neck and pushed him through the shop. A shelf near the door fell as I was doing this.

"I punched him on the arm and he dropped the knife. I got the knife and got a cut to my hand. The man was struggling to get out of the door because there was the shelf in the way and I held him by the shirt collar and pushed him outside.

"I had no shoes on and he managed to slip away from me. If I had had some shoes on I may have been able to hold onto him and stop him from getting away."

He continued: "When this was going on the footpath was full of people and the tenant from upstairs called the police.

"They arrived very quickly and took statements from people. An ambulance arrived to take me to hospital to have my hand looked at, but the cut was not very deep and they bandaged it up.

"Customers were trying to come into the shop but the police shut the shop for two-and-half hours but we cleared things up quickly and are open for business again now.

"It was not frightening. I do not frighten easily, but it was disturbing.

"I am 64 years old, I am not at an age where I should be doing this sort of thing. It could have been very serious.

"We are hard working, honest people just trying to make a living. It is hard to understand why this would happen."

"It's awful that another shop was targeted very soon after."

Mr Khan said his wife had been serving in the shop until 4pm and it was lucky that she had gone home when this was happened. He said he has received many phone calls from family and friends all over the world who heard about the incident and were worried about him.

Police have described the robber as white, about 30 years old, 5ft 6in, medium build with blonde hair and was wearing a light blue, long sleeved shirt, blue jeans and white trainers.

Just before 5.30pm a robber, also with a knife, went into the All Photo camera shop and demanded money from the till. The shop assistant refused and pushed the man away. He left with another man who was waiting at the door.A police car followed a man riding a bike and witnesses say one of the officers grabbed the bike to stop him.

One of the men is described as white, about 5ft 7in, with fair hair and stubble, wearing a multicoloured beanie hat and green or beige fleece.

A police spokeswoman praised the actions of the staff in both shops. She said: "Each time the robbers were thwarted by the courageous actions of the staff." A 32-year-old man was arrested.

Witnesses are asked to contact the police on 0845 6070999.