A DEFIANT landlord has said business is better than ever after two men in balaclavas attempted to rob his pub.

Martin White, 34, was working in his pub The Rising Sun, in Ongar Road, Brentwood, when the men burst into the building and demanded keys to the safe.

He said: “The men came in and began to give me a kicking.

“I managed to stop them from getting the safe keys but they broke my eye socket and really roughed me up.

“One of my regular customers was also grabbed and held to the floor, but wasn’t injured, luckily.

“They made no attempt to grab the till, which I thought was odd but at the last minute they made a grab for my back pocket and got my phone and wallet.

“The wallet was chained to my trousers with my old dog’s choke chain, which was of massive sentimental value, but there was nothing in the wallet and it was found with the chain around the corner.

“But I was pretty battered and really struggled for most of last week.”

Police are now investigating the incident, which happened at about 10.45pm on Sunday, April 24.

Mr White, who has run the pub for two years, thanked his customers for their support following the attack and insists the incident will not affect the day to day running of his business.

He said: “It was a horrible shock but it’s happened, we are dealing with it and hopefully the police will find the men who did it.

“Most landlords have to go through this once in their career so hopefully this is my once and it won’t happen again.

“I’ve had so many people come down to back me up and see if I’m OK, I’d really like to thank all of my customers for their support. We are back to normal now, this isn’t going to stop us.”

An East of England Ambulance Service said: “An ambulance crew attend - ed to treat a man in his 30s who had a head injury who was taken to hospital for further treatment.”

Anyone with information should call DC Mel Keen at Brentwood CID on 101 or Crimestoppers anonymously on 0800 555 111.