Two people have been arrested after a sub-postmaster was robbed for the third time in nine days.

Jack Saheid was kicked repeatedly by a knife-wielding raider at the Lyndhurst Road post office in Worthing.

It was the 17th armed raid in Worthing since Christmas. Nine of them are believed to have been carried out by the same man.

Mr Saheid said: "I thought I was a goner. He had this long knife in his hand and he was saying, several times, 'Don't do anything or I'll kill you'. I was terrified."

A woman in her 40s from Brighton was arrested in a taxi at the junction of Lewes Road and Elm Grove at 4.30pm yesterday.

A man aged about 30 was arrested at an address in nearby Natal Road at 7.30pm.

On Monday last week, Mr Saheid grappled with a gunman who burst into the post office and demanded cash.

After a tussle in which the gun was pointed at his face, Mr Saheid pulled an alarm cord and the robber fled.

On Thursday, the post office was targeted again and this time the raider got away with more than £1,000.

The third raid took place at lunchtime yesterday.

Mr Saheid said the man threatened him with a knife, jumped over the counter and snatched cash. He said the man kicked him in the arms three or four times.

Mr Saheid said he was petrified of opening up the post office again today.

Sergeant Kevin Jenkins was one of the first officers on the scene after the robbery.

He said: "Cash has been taken but at this stage we can't say how much. The premises were also attacked twice last week but we aren't making a direct connection between the raids.

"We would appeal to any persons in the area at about 1pm who may have seen anybody entering the premises to contact the police."

Detective Sergeant Colin Smith of Worthing police said of the string of recent raids: "We are as concerned as Mr Saheid is, as are a number of traders in the Worthing area. It's an unacceptable amount of robberies but we are throwing a lot of manpower at this in order to try and catch these people."

A spokesman for the Post Office said the sub-postmaster would be offered counselling and support if needed.

He said: "We are continually reviewing our security arrangements at all of our branches."

Detectives hunting the Worthing serial shotgun robber are chasing up fresh leads after he was featured on BBC TV show Crimewatch last night.

At least 12 calls were made to the Operation Texan incident room following the programme.

Detective Inspector Jeff Riley said: "We have had a number of phone calls naming different people that we will be looking at in the next few days. We have got some leads, yes, but at this stage we can't go into any details."