ARMED robbers were sent packing in a flurry of kicks and blows from shop owner David Broome.

And "kung fu" fighter David has a plain message for the thugs who hit his Culcheth television business.

"Come back if you like - we're not finished," he said after the third raid on his Warrington Road premises.

The 37 year-old Crest Television boss summoned up years of martial arts training when four men carried out a daylight raid on his Warrington Road premises.

"It was unbelievable - like something out of the Wild West," said Mr Broome after Saturday's mid-afternoon raid.

"Three men in their early 20s came into the shop. They were looking at video recorders and had been in for 20 or 30 seconds when they grabbed two satellite receivers and two video recorders and ran for the door.

"I grabbed the last one and was giving him a hiding when one of his mates came at me with a piece of scaffolding tube. I took it off him and punched him, knocking him over a litter bin."

As he was grappling with one of the thugs the other two, plus a third man who had been in the driver's seat of the stolen silver Metro they were using, yanked their accomplice from his grasp.

In the panic the robbers dropped one of the video recorders.

Mr Broome said an elderly lady tried to intervene and grabbed one of the robbers by the scruff of the neck. He would like the spirited have-a-go heroine to contact him.

The robbers' car - which had been stolen from Blackpool - was found in Salford an hour after the raid.

Mr Broome said his premises were burgled on October 1, October 23 and October 27 and feels the same gang may also be responsible for those raids.

He claimed:"Vehicles used in two of those three burglaries were stolen from Blackpool and then dropped-off in Salford. In the other instance the car was stolen in Chadderton and recovered from Salford.

"Criminals see Culcheth as an easy target, vulnerable because of the nearby motorway network and with low key police presence."

Ram raiders struck twice in quick succession last week in Market Street, Leigh. The first raid was on Mischief children's wear shop followed the following night by an attack on the nearby Bridal Gowns and June Rose designer wear shop.

Converted for the new archive on 14 July 2000. Some images and formatting may have been lost in the conversion.