A WOMEN has spoken of her horror after a knife-wielding robber smashed a till over her head and stole £1,000 from a Blackburn shop.

Sajda Ashraf said she ‘feared the worst’ when then man brandished the weapon during an attack at Hanna’s Convenience Store in Infirmary Street.

Her teenage son, 14-year-old Tayab, raised the alarm with police while her husband tried to tackle the thief outside.

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Mrs Ashraf, 36, said her family were ‘frightened’, but would not be deterred from continuing their business.

She said: “We can’t afford to close.

“This is our way of life but we are frightened.

“There is that fear but this shop is our livelihood so we have to stay open.”

The robbery took place at the shop, on the corner of Rockcliffe Street, at around 8.15pm on Sunday.

Mrs Ashraf said a man came in asking for shampoo before leaping over the counter and grabbing the till while her husband, Shakeel Minhas, was in a back room.

She said: “I came round to show him the shelf and he took out the knife and shouted: ‘Open the till’.

“I was screaming and he managed to rip it out himself. He grabbed some cigarettes, hit me over the head with the till and it went all over the place. I fell and he ran off but dropped the knife.

“My husband ran after him while Tayab told the police what was going on. He struggled for eight or nine minutes and we were screaming but no-one was around.”

The robber, described as white, in his mid-thirties, approximately 6ft 2in tall, and of heavy build with short dark hair, eventually drove off in a car, believed to be a Ford Focus, parked on Pritchard Street.

The couple, who have three other children, Hanna, 13, Zenul, 12, and Abdullah, eight, have managed the shop, previously known as ZY Grocers, for three years.

Mrs Ashraf was treated for minor bruising at Royal Blackburn Hospital while Mr Minhas suffered cuts to his hand.

Detective Sergeant Adrian McHugh, of Blackburn Police, said: “This must have been an extremely frightening incident for the shopkeeper and her husband.

“Thankfully they only suffered minor injuries.

“An investigation to identify the man responsible is underway and I would urge anyone who has any information that could assist us with our enquiries to contact us.”

Anyone with information should contact Lancashire police on 101 quoting incident 1082 of January 18.