CCTV footage has captured the moment a brave grandmother fended off two machete-wielding robbers with a chair when they held up her newsagents in Winsford.

Two thieves wearing balaclavas walked into K L Newsagents in Station Road, Winsford, at 10am on Friday, October 21, and brandished a large machete.

The thieves demanded money out of the till from the 56-year-old shopkeeper, Hamalata Patel, but met their match when she chased them out of the shop with a chair.

Mrs Patel had her two and four-year-old grandchildren with her and admitted she ‘lost it’ when the pair demanded cash.

Mrs Patel said: “They came in and at first I thought it was a plastic meat cleaver because of Hallowe’en. But then he smashed it onto the top of the counter and that’s when I knew it was a real machete.

“He was saying ‘get the money out’. I said ‘you’re next to the till you get it out, I’m not coming anywhere near you’. The more I said that the more he was waving and banging the machete.

“I just lost it because my granddaughter was in the back and she wasn’t well. I just got the chair that we have here for some of the old people when they come in, and I picked it up and said ‘you asked for it, I’m coming for you then.’

The brave shopkeeper, who owns the shop with her husband, Dhirubhai, said this is first time anything like this has happened since the couple bought the shop in 1984.

“We came here in 1984 and this is the first time anything like this has happened.

“I have been brought up like a fighter, we were brought up not to take nonsense. I wasn’t going to stand for any nonsense. I work hard for my money and I’m not going to let somebody come in and take it.”

Police have arrested two teenage boys from Winsford, aged 16 and 14. The pair are currently on police bail.

Insp Dave Snasdell, of Cheshire Police, said: “The brave female challenged the offenders and defended herself with a chair which made the offenders leave empty handed.

“Thankfully these offences are rare and the shopkeeper was very brave in protecting her shop and property.”