Business as normal after armed robbery at shop

after being struck for the THIRD time, the thug pulled a gun and threatened him.

Mr Singh, whose wife Narinder was also in the shop, stood his ground, forcing the two men to flee.

The drama happened at the couple’s convenience store in Mill Lane at 8.45pm on Friday.

Mr Singh, who has run the shop for 12 years, told how two masked men burst in. One guarded Mrs Singh with a bat, while the other threatened her husband.

“One of the men came over to me and said: ‘I want money.’ He had a baseball bat and he hit me,” said Mr Singh.

“I fell backwards but came forwards again and he again demanded money. I said: ‘No, I’m not opening the till.’

“He whacked me again and I fell again. When I got up I tried to pull his mask off to see his face but he whacked me again.

“Then he pulled out a firearm, a pistol, and pointed it at me. The other man was standing with my wife.

“When they realised they weren’t getting any money they scarpered.”

Mr Singh was left bleeding from a head wound which needed stitches at hospital.

However, the defiant shopkeeper was back behind the counter first thing Saturday morning.

“I am fine,” he said. “The shop is open as normal and we carry on. I’ve got a few stitches and scratches but you can’t let them win. Satpal Singh, of Hanging Heaton Food Store in Batley, who fought off armed raiders who struck him over the head with a baseball bat and, left, outside his shop

“We won’t give up. People rely on their local shops.”

All that was stolen was Mrs Singh’s old mobile phone.

It’s not the first time Mr Singh has fought off armed raiders. In 2009 a masked knifeman burst in as Mr Singh was watching a James Bond film at the back of the shop.

Mr Singh grabbed the man’s hand and pushed him over before dragging him to his feet and throwing him out – telling him never to come back!