A MODEST hero who risked his life to frighten off an armed robber claimed his only thought was to protect his boss's shop.

Shop keeper Damian Rooney, 19, was working in Downing's off licence on Regent Road, Morecambe, on Tuesday evening when a man stormed in brandishing a gun.

The raider twice demanded cash but fearless Damian sprang into action, forcing him out of the door before he could steal anything.

Damian said: "This man came in, pushed my girlfriend out of the way, pulled a shotgun out and said: 'Open the till'.

"I knocked his hand away with the gun in it and he started to panic. I went to grab him and he went straight for the door.

"He dropped his bag and went to pick it up so I slammed the door on him and he ran off."

The courageous teenager said he hadn't consider his own safety. "I'm not brave, I was just thinking of the shop," he explained.

The gunman was described as white, 5ft 5ins tall, slim build, with pointed features, dark hair, wearing a black woolly hat, a scarf across his face and a black bomber jacket.

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