A HAVE-a-go shop assistant chased a robber who snatched £120 from the till as she served a customer.

Mumtaz Manji, 38, who works part time as a nurse at the Princess Royal Hospital, Haywards Heath, sprang into action when the thief struck.

She was caught by surprise as the man, who had been looking at pens,

suddenly lunged at the till when she opened it for a sale.

Mumtaz, who is just 5ft 3in and runs the The Boulevard newsagents, opposite the town hall, was pushed aside as she tried to thwart the raid.

The 6ft thief used his strength and put his hand over her face to deter her before running out of the shop, chased by Mumtaz.

She said: "I was serving a customer who had given me a £10 note.

"I always put large notes on the till before giving the right change so customers cannot suddenly say they have given me £20 when they have given me £10.

"This man suddenly lunged at the till, grabbed a wad of notes, taking me by surprise.

"I tried to stop him, but he put his hand over my face and ran out of the shop. I chased after him, but lost him.

"Other customers helped police by giving a description.

"I work as a nurse at weekends and I have to be strong with some patients.

"I was not afraid of running after him.

"I would have tried to get the money off him if I had caught up with him."

Mumtaz has only just recovered from an incident six months ago when a

customer attacked her outside the shop in a row over phone cards.

She had two teeth knocked out on that

occasion.

Police say the suspect is 6ft and in his early twenties.

He was thin, clean shaven and wearing a dark woolly hat, cream jacket and light -coloured trousers.

He ran out of the shop into an alleyway and made off towards Northgate.

Anybody who saw him running through the

centre of Crawley soon after 9am yesterday should

contact PC Peter Thomas at

Crawley on 0845 6070999.

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