31 July 2012 Last updated at 12:16 ET

Kelvedon shop manager foils robbery with beer can barrage

Shop manager Aman Singh Mann initially thought a customer was joking with the assistant

A would-be robber who threatened convenience store staff with a knife fled empty-handed after the manager began hurling cans of beer at him.

The masked man went into the Nisa Store in Kelvedon Hatch, near Brentwood, Essex, at 17:15 BST on Sunday.

The man ordered a female member of staff, who was dealing with a customer at the time, to open the till.

The robber left after manager Aman Singh Mann began throwing cans of lager at him.

Mr Mann, 29, said: "I was having my break in the stock room and then I just heard a noise and someone ask the staff member to open the till for them.

Six pack

"At first I thought it was a customer because our customers do have a laugh with us."

But when he looked up at the CCTV screen in the store room, he realised a robbery was under way.

"When I saw the knife in his hand I just started throwing Carling beer at him," said Mr Mann.

"The first one hit him and he started to come towards me and I threw another one."

Mr Mann said he continued throwing cans until he got down to the last one in a six pack, at which point the robber left the store.

Det Con Jo Phillips, from Essex Police, said: "This was an extremely frightening incident for the shop assistant and the customer who both feared for their safety when the man was waving the knife at them."

The robber was white, aged between 20 and 30, and about 5ft 9in (1.75m) tall. He wore jeans, a black jacket with the hood up and a dark scarf over his face.

Mr Mann's employer, store owner Des Dhesi said: "He's quite heroic. In that situation I think he reacted well."

Asked whether Mr Mann would be given a pay rise or a day off, Mr Dhesi said: "I will give him a day off."