A BRAVE shop owner chased a would-be robber down the street with a cricket bat after being stabbed with a ten-inch kitchen knife.

Rajesh Parmar, 51, of Chelmsford, was just a few hours into his shift at his shop, Roystons Express store in Waterhouse Lane, Chelmsford, after taking over from his wife Rajshree Parmar, when a man came into the store armed with the knife.

He approached the father-of-two, who was behind the till, and demanded money. His wife, Rajshree Parmar, 44, said: “I wasn’t here as my husband had come in and taken over at about 3.15pm then this happened.

“Luckily we keep a cricket bat behind the counter but as my husband went to grab it the man leaned over and stabbed him. “He didn’t really feel it to start with so ran after him with the cricket bat down the road and the guy ran away.

“It was only then he realised. He was very lucky as he had a thick sweatshirt and t-shirt on or it might have been worse.”

Police carried out house to house inquiries and searched the area following the attempted armed robbery and are now appealing for witnesses.

Ds Nathan Hutchinson of Chelmsford CID said: "The victim was extremely fortunate to have only received a superficial injury but has been through a terrible ordeal nonetheless.

"The area would have been busy at the time so we would like to hear from anyone who may have seen a man matching this description in the area before or after the attempted robbery took place.”

Although the suspect ran off and Mr Parmar suffered only a superficial cut to his lower back, the family have been left upset and frightened by the incident, which took place at around 4.20pm on Monday, April, 20.

The suspect is described as a white man, around 5ft 10ins/11ins tall who spoke with a Northern accent.

He wore a black hooded jacket, a cap with a white logo on its peak, gloves and possibly blue tracksuit bottoms with white stripes on the side.

Witnesses to the attempted robbery can contact detectives at Chelmsford CID on 101 or Crimestoppers anonymously on 0800 555 111.

For more see next week's Weekly News.