A SHOP worker who disarmed a knife-wielding thief today said: "I am not a hero".

Stuart Hoyle, 31, a warehouse manager at Whitehead's store, Haslingden, said he reacted instinctively when the man produced the knife. He grabbed the thief's arm and disarmed him.

"As soon as I saw the knife I had to get it off him before he did anything daft with it," said Mr Hoyle.

"But I felt a bit shaky afterwards when I realised what could have happened."

His action was described to Rossendale magistrates when William Hughes, 25, of Ribble House, Haslingden, admitted theft, possession of a weapon and affray.

The incident in the Deardengate store, on Monday, began when Mr Hoyle spotted Hughes leaving the shop with a bulging jacket. He confronted the man who had stolen a quantity of frozen meat and asked him to empty his pockets. Hughes produced a kitchen knife with a three-inch blade and held it against Mr Hoyle's face, said Kendal Linley, prosecuting.

The court heard that when the police questioned Hughes in a store room at the supermarket they found a lock knife on a pallet directly behind him. At the police station a penknife dropped out of his trousers.

Hughes was remanded in custody for reports.

Philip Whittaker, defending, said Hughes was staying with a friend in Haslingden in a bid to escape the Glasgow drug scene. He was a heroin addict who was trying to use alcohol to beat the pain of withdrawal.

Mr Whittaker said: "He had no income other than benefits and he had reached the point where he was still withdrawing, but had no money to buy alcohol."

The solicitor added that Hughes was wearing a borrowed jacket and did no realise the knife was in the pocket until he put his hand in. He brandished it in the heat of the moment.

Mr Whittaker said: "By no stretch of the imagination did he ever intend to use it."

Mr Linley said Hughes was on probation and police bail at the time of the offence.

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