A HEROIC shopkeeper who served in the Iran-Iraq war used a chair leg to scare off armed robbers who raided his shop in Little Hulton.

When two hooded men burst into Darius Adineh’s convenience store he refused to hand over his hard-earned takings.

Instead he told the men “if you want the money you’ll have to come and get it”.

Mr Adineh, aged 44, was working alone when the two men, armed with a baseball bat, hammer and knife, came into his stop and made threats to kill him if he did not hand over the money.

He said: “One of the men came behind the till and he was very loud, using horrible language, effing and jeffing. I wasn’t going to give my takings away, not even £5. Some shop keepers will say “take the money”.

"But my wife and I work from 6am until 11pm seven days a week and we are struggling to pay the bills so why should I give them my takings from the till for them to smoke cannabis?”

Mr Adineh has run the Premier Convenience Store in Manchester Road East, Little Hulton, for three years and has never had to fight off robbers before.

He previously served in the Special Forces of the Iranian Army during the Iran-Iraq war and learned extensive military training. He is also a black belt in Kung Fu and continues to train.

The brave shopkeeper used a self-defence technique to protect himself by kicking one of the men in the leg. It caused the man to drop a hammer, which police later seized. He also kicked the man as he chased him out the store, causing the armed robber to try and grab items in the store to regain his balance.

Due to having back problems Mr Adineh was repairing a chair prior to the men bursting in so was able to deter them with a chair leg.

He said: “They didn’t know they had come across somebody trained like me. Weapons don’t scare me. I know how to disarm people. I am a trained ex-soldier.

" It was so easy for me to protect myself even if I just had a small pen because I know how to use it. I wasn’t scared, it was all over within 16 seconds. I think they got more than a shock than me.

“I hope the message will be getting around criminals not to come again. They look for an easy target and I am not one.”

He said a customer called police and they arrived within seconds.

Mr Adineh said customers are shocked about how they reacted as they always see him smiling and thought he was a “soft touch”.

The men escaped empty handed following the raid at 10.10pm on Thursday.

One of the suspects was around 5ft 7ins, slim and was wearing a light coloured hoody with the hood up. He was wearing tracksuit bottoms that were also light coloured and had his face covered, possibly with some women’s tights.

The second man was about 6ft tall, he was wearing a red hoody and had a local accent.

People with information about the crime can call police on 101 or Crimestoppers, anonymously, on 0800 555111.