SHOPPERS fought off a gang of carjackers when they dragged a woman out of her car at a supermarket.

They dashed to the rescue after two masked men struck at Tesco in Middlebrook.

One shopper rammed a trolley into the attackers' legs and another hurled bottles of beer at the thugs.

The drama began at 8.50pm on Monday when the men - who claimed they were armed - pulled the 53-year-old woman from her Honda Civic after she had finished her shopping.

She fought back and other shoppers came to help, despite the robbers claiming they were armed.

Shopper Derek Thompson told today how he ran across to the victim to try to scare one of the attackers away.

Then the second thug and another shopper joined the stand-off, before two more gang members arrived in a people carrier.

Shoppers surrounded the car as the thugs forced their way inside the woman's car - but found they could not drive away because they had no keys.

Mr Thompson said: "They got in the car but they couldn't get anywhere.

"They were only small lads, about 18 or 19-years-old, so it wasn't hard to overpower them really.

"I said if they didn't get out of the car, I'd throw bottles through the windows at them. They got out quickly and I think they realised they were beaten.

"As they tried to get away, I threw the bottles at them anyway. If I'd have killed one of them, I'd have been in trouble but my main concern was to scare them away and shake them up a bit.

"It was terrifying to be honest. Sometimes feel the best thing to do is have a go yourself."

He says other shoppers stood and watched as the incident became more menacing. "There was a lot of screaming and shouting," Mr Thompson said.

The woman received a cut to her lip and was bleeding but was otherwise unharmed. She telephoned her husband who arrived shortly after police turned up at the scene.

Police say they were called to Tesco at 8.50pm on Monday to deal with a carjacking. An officer said the woman had tried to fight back. He added: "We would appeal to any witnesses to come forward."

Tesco would not comment on the incident. If you have any information call Crimestoppers on 0800 555 111.