A SHOP manager has told of the moment he stared down the barrel of a gun during a terrifying armed robbery.

Dave Jones, 28, said he was so sure he was going to die at the hands of the raider that he could barely stop shaking as he tried to open the till.

The masked thug had pressed his gun against the head of a teenage shopworker when Mr Jones stepped in to help.

He said: “I couldn’t even look at the guy’s face. I was just looking at his finger on the trigger.

“All I could think was just ‘I’m going to die’.”

The drama unfolded at the Co-Operative store, in St Peter’s Terrace, Wickford.

Mr Jones was working with a 17-year-old male colleague when the raider burst in.

The duty manager, who has worked at the store since January, said: “He walked through the door with a mask on and put the gun to the back of our 17-year-old worker’s head. I heard him demanding money, but my colleague was telling him he couldn’t open the till as only managers have keys. I made my presence known and I went to open the till.”

But, terrified by the gun pointed straight at him, Mr Jones struggled to open the till.

Recalling the nerve-wracking moment, he said: “We have touch-screen tills and you have to type the password in. But I just kept typing my password in wrong. The guy was getting a little bit angry and I just thought my time was up.”

Mr Jones eventually managed to get the till open and the armed robber fled with hundreds of pounds in cash and cigarettes. Once he had gone, the two shocked men locked the door and called police.

Despite their ordeal, both have since returned to work.

Mr Jones added: “You just have to keep going, don’t you? If we didn’t, what would our customers do?”

Police have released CCTV images showing the moment the robber walked through the door.

Investigating officer PC Phil McCorkell, from the Basildon serious crime team, said: “It’s possible the suspect discarded his face covering after he made off. If you think you know the man pictured in the CCTV, please get in touch with us.”

The robber was white, aged 41 to 60. He wore a black balaclava, a navy jacket, navy bottoms and was carrying a blue and white Nike rucksack and carried a small black handgun-style weapon.

Witnesses to the raid, which happened at 9.15pm on Wednesday, March 7, or anyone who recognises the man, can contact PC McCorkell at Basildon on 101 or Crimestoppers anonymously on 0800 555111.