A PLUCKY Post Office couple told today how they faced down a would-be robber who struck at their York shop armed with what they believed was a gun.

Christine Waddington, 53, and husband Duncan, 57, refused to give in to the demands of raider Richard Campbell, who was today starting a six-year jail term following the attempted raid on the Bright Street Post Office, in Stamford Street East.

Mrs Waddington said: "I was appalled at first. He had a hat over his head with just one hole in it. I was terrified.

"As he came nearer to me, I realised that I knew him as a customer who had come in previously."

York Crown Court was told that Campbell had a metallic weapon which Mrs Waddington described as "a cylinder at least six inches long". She said today: "I thought it could have been a gun."

Despite Campbell's repeated demands for her to hand over cash, she told him "Not bloody likely."

She said: "You don't know how you will react until you are faced with it. I was angry and I found some strength from somewhere but it was still a horrible experience."

As Campbell, 32, no fixed address, fled the shop Mr Waddington stepped in.

He said: "I was in the back and when I came out he was at the door. My first reaction was to grab the hat he had covering his face and chuck it on the floor. I chased him along Garfield Terrace and he went into a house and I just waited for the police to come."

He added: "At the time I reacted, I was just thinking, 'We work hard to earn our money and people like that who think they can just take it shouldn't get away with it.'"

The couple, who have run the post office since 1991, were robbed about 12 years ago but preferred not to relive that traumatic experience.

Mrs Waddington said she was still carrying the psychological scars of the latest robbery and although she had had support from people who know her, she did not like to be on her own in the shop.

Updated: 15:13 Friday, May 24, 2002