A YOUNG video shop assistant today spoke of the moment of terror when an armed raider burst into the store and threatened him with a gun.

Rikky Hamilton, 24, of Burnley, was just about to close the Moviezone store in Parliament Street when the gunman, wearing a stetson hat and scarf, burst through the door.

He threatened Rikky with the pistol before grabbing the till from behind the counter and smashing it on the floor.

Rikky said: "I was just about to shut up shop when the door flew open and this guy stood in the doorway pointing a gun at me. He told me to go over to him but I ran into a back room to try to get away.

"He came over to the counter and threw the till on the floor then he walked over to where I was and pulled open the door and held the gun to my head.

"He told me to open the safe which I did and he just grabbed a handful of cash and walked out. It was pretty terrifying."

The robber escaped with around £200.

Shop owner Andrew Ashworth said: "My main concern was for Rikky and thankfully he was OK, but it was lucky that he didn't get away with more than he did.

"There would have been quite a lot of cash in the safe but I had been to the bank the day before so there wasn't much to take."

Police are now hunting the robber, who struck at 9.30pm on Friday.

He was 6ft tall, skinny, spotty with ginger hair, wearing a stetson-style hat and scarf pulled up round his face.

Det Sgt Steve Mounsey, of Burnley CID, said: "This was a serious incident and we are making every effort to track this man down as quickly as possible."