A FEARLESS shopkeeper stood her ground in a stand-off with a knife-wielding robber.

The Blackburn shop worker was confronted by an armed thief demanding cash in the teatime robbery.

Detectives said 26-year-old Tammy Byrom, who was working at Step In off-licence, refused to be intimidated by the man and armed herself with a pair scissors.

She said: “I was reading the paper when all of a sudden someone burst into the shop.

“As I looked up I could tell something wasn’t right as the guy had his hood so tight you could barely see his face.

“I went to ask him to remove his hood and he pulled out a massive kitchen knife.

“The adrenaline just kicked in, I grabbed the scissors and I thought ‘you are not getting anything’.

“He tried to force me to get cash out of the till three times but I told him I wouldn’t and that I was ringing the police. He looked like he was on drugs. Seconds later he ran out empty handed.”

DI Mark Vaughton, of Blackburn CID, is now appealing for anyone who saw anything to come forward.

He said: “This man has entered an off-licence at 5pm in the evening and threatened the lone female shopkeeper with a knife.

“I urge anyone who was in the Redlam area on Sunday evening to come forward.

“I also appeal for anyone who saw a man in dark clothing running away from the shop or getting into a vehicle to contact police.” The robber is described as white and was wearing dark clothing.

Tammy who has worked at the Redlam shop for three months is now being accompanied by the shop owner through her shifts until she feels more confident.

She said: “Thinking about what happened now is terrifying.

“I was stupid really risking my life, anything could happen but my instinct was to stop him getting anything.

“I just really hope the police catch him.”

Anyone with information should called police on 101 or call Crimestoppers anonymously on 0800-555-111.