A BRAVE village store owner foiled a robber who held him at hammer and knife point, York Crown Court heard.

Jeremy Barton, prosecuting, said police found a third weapon and a balaclava in Munashe Chikomba’s car when they stopped him later.

When the robber showed the hammer and knife to the family store owner in a small North Yorkshire village, the shopkeeper first tried to treat it as a joke and then rang police.

Chikomba told him not to do that being fleeing empty-handed.

The shopkeeper now feels unsafe in the shop two generations of his family have run for 26 years.

“I am now really worried about the future,” he said in a police statement. “It has shaken me so much.”

Defence barrister Khadim Al’Hassan said the would-be robber had gone for a drive to “clear his mind” because he had mental health problems and decided to do something to clear his £1,000 debts,

Chikomba, 23, of Cardigan Road, Headingley, Leeds, pleaded guilty to attempted robbery, two charges of having knives in public and one of having a hammer as an offensive weapon.

He was jailed for 30 months. He had no previous convictions.

Mr Al-Hassan said Chikomba had behaved completely out of character.

He had been kidnapped as a child in Zimbabwe before following his parents to Britain.

In Britain, he had done charity work for his community. He had also self-harmed.

At the time of the failed raid on Summerbridge Stores in Summerbridge near Harrogate, on March 27, he had been suffering from a depressive disorder.

He was very remorseful for his actions.

Mr Barton said Chikomba wore his hood up and a snood covering the lower part of his face during the raid.

A woman customer was in the store when the robber walked in and told the shopkeeper to "open it" meaning the till.

But the shopkeeper refused.