A NEWSAGENT has spoken of his horror at being robbed at knifepoint by masked raiders who targeted his shop in Burnley.

The thieves, a white and an Asian man, snatched £200 of cigarettes, and £350 in cash from the till of KT’s Convenience Store, in Bren- nand Street.

The white man brandished a nine-inch curved blade at shop owner Tariq Shah as the Asian man grabbed the stock and money.

Mr Shah said: “I was scared. I thought he was going to stab me when he held the knife up to me.”

The shop owner had been sitt-ing in a back room with two friends when the pair burst into the store.

Mr Shah said: “I got up to serve the customer when he put the knife up and told me to back off. I went back into the room and told my friends not to bother trying to stop them because it wasn’t worth it.

“Both of them were trying to open the till, then one of them did and got the cash out.

“Then I tried to stop them from leaving and I used a broom to try and block the door and knock cigarettes out of his hands, but he told me to back off again, and they got out.

“I thought he might have stabbed me. I’ve never had any-thing like that happen before.

“The only thing I’ve had before is someone steal a bottle of drink. I was shocked.”

As the Lancashire Telegraph reported yesterday, the raid was the third robbery in the town in three days.

Two takeaway staff at Planet Pizza, in Croft Street, were beaten with baseball bats in a violent attack on Monday at 8pm.

On Sunday, three men armed with a crowbar and wearing bal- aclavas, forced their way into a mid-terrace house in Queen Victoria Road, at 9.40pm, and battered and attempted to rob a resident.

The robbery at KT’s Conven-ience Store happened at 9.30pm on Saturday.

The Asian man was around 6ft 2in tall, and the white man was around 5ft 5in tall.

Anyone with any information about the incidents should call 101.

Alternatively, people can call Crimestoppers anonymously on 0800 555 111.