SHOPKEEPER Myra Tyson lived up to her name when she was confronted by a thug armed with a knife.

She refused to hand over money from her till and with a few sharp words sent the man running from her shop, M.R. Fine Foods, Gales Drive, Three Bridges, Crawley.

The youth entered the shop and waited until other customers had left.

Myra, 55, said: "He came behind the checkout and muttered twice that he wanted money from the till. I kept saying no. He had a knife and he asked a third time.

"I told him if he didn't go away I would switch the panic alarm on and it would lock the till. He left the shop after that.

"I didn't feel at all scared. I have been running this shop for a few years and have seen violent people before. I just felt angry."

The man was aged 20-30, 5ft 10ins, thin and wearing a black bomber jacket, jeans, trainers and a black woolly hat.

Det Con Ian Tremble, of Crawley police, said Myra had been very brave.

Thirty minutes later another shop assistant was robbed at knifepoint at the One Stop Shop, Downland Drive, Southgate, Crawley.

Police are not connecting the two incidents.

In this raid the woman cashier was grabbed by her arm by a man wielding a four-inch knife and pushed towards the till.

The robber got away with £500. He was aged 20-30, 5ft 8ins to 5ft 10ins, stocky and wearing a grey hooded fleece and a white scarf covering his face.

Det Con Tremble said the man had been caught on CCTV cameras and they would be studying the pictures. He is appealing for information about both incidents, which happened on Thursday, on 0800 60 70 999.

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