A SCARED family barricaded themselves inside their Hereford home while an armed robber raided the till in their adjacent shop.

Ragu Nathan, owner of the Premier Stores in Kilpeck Avenue, Newton Farm, was attacked by a man with baseball bat who came into his off-licence at 8.30pm last night.

Mr Nathan said that his wife and two children aged four and one were upstairs in their family home above the shop at the time of the robbery.

He told the Hereford Times this morning: "I was just stocking up when the man came in.

"He was masked with a black things over his head, gloves and a baseball bat. He came over to the till and I tried to grab the baseball bat before being pushed back into the kitchen of our home.

"He kicked me and I fell down before he smashed the glass of our oven. My wife came down and we managed to block the door.

"He stole the money from the till before running away."

Hereford Times:

The scene outside the store last night

Despite the robbery, Mr Nathan opened his shop as normal this morning. He said the store had been left untouched apart a few smashed wine bottles.

He added: "I have owned the shop for nearly six years and this is the first time anything has happened.

"I was scared because at that time my wife and two children were upstairs ­- everybody was scared.

"Last night I couldn't sleep, I just kept seeing the baseball bat in my mind."

"I was a little bit worried opening today but opened as normal."  

  • Police are still investigating the incident and have confirmed that a 25 year-old man from Hereford has been arrested on suspicion of robbery.

Police are appealing for anyone who may have any information regarding the incident to contact West Mercia Police on 101, quoting incident 652s of 11 November.