A shop assistant has described the moment a wrench-wielding robber threatened him during a raid yesterday morning.

The man, who didn’t want to be named, was working at the village store in Badwell Ash when two men entered the shop at 5am.

Both carried wrenches and after taking cigarettes left the store.

The shop assistant, who was uninjured, said he locked himself in a secure room after the men walked in.

“There was no actual violence, just the threat of violence,” he said.

“There was one who did the speaking. He said: ‘Don’t press any buttons or we’ll put you in hospital’.

“He seemed very composed about what he was doing so I just had to assume he would do what he said he would.

“Obviously you get shaken up after something like that.”

The man said it was the first time he had come face-to-face with robbers in the shop.

“People have tried breaking in but it has always been when no one was here.

“In the back of your mind you flash through scenarios like, ‘Can I take them on?’ and then the other one came in and I thought ‘No, not a chance’.

“I wasn’t prepared to put my neck on the line for cigarettes.”

Police recovered a silver Transit-style van from outside the shop and appealed for any witnesses to come forward.

The first offender is described as a white man, between 5ft 6in and 5ft 8in tall, of a slim build, aged in his mid-twenties and wearing light blue jeans with his face covered by a red piece of material.

The second offender is described as a white man, between 5ft 10in to 5ft 11in tall, aged in his mid-twenties and had his face covered.

Anyone with information should call the Bury Priority Crime Team on 101.