A TERRIFIED Port shopkeeper feared for his life when a masked man threatened him with a large axe before robbing him of hundreds of pounds.

Shahid Mahmood, who owns the U Save Shop in Brown Street, said he and his assistant were in the shop when the armed robber burst in at 6.15am yesterday.

The 49-year-old said the thug came over to the counter, pointed the weapon at him and then demanded money.

Fearing for his life, Shahid handed over a couple of hundred pounds from the till before the culprit fled.

Speaking at his shop yesterday, Shahid, a father of four, said: “As usual I opened the shop at 5am as we have regular customers who come in at that time.

“At about 6.15am I was behind the counter and my assistant Elinor was re-stocking the fridge when this guy came in with a mask on his face and a navy hoodie on.

“He came over to me at the counter and pointed this massive axe with a big blade at me and demanded money.

“I feared for my life, so I never said anything and just opened the till and handed him a couple of hundred pounds.

“I thank god that none of my kids were in the shop at the time.

“It all happened within 15 seconds, so quickly that Elinor didn’t even realise what had happened as she had her back to me re-stocking the fridge.”

Despite his ordeal, Shahid, who has run the shop for the past eight years, opened up soon afterwards to serve his loyal customers.

He said: “The police and the crime scene officers came to the shop and they are looking at my CCTV footage.

“Hopefully they can find who did this.

“This is my family business and I work 16 hours a day, seven days a week for them.”

Detectives are investigating the armed robbery and are asking anyone who saw the man, who was wearing a navy blue hoodie and a mask with flames on it, to contact them.

He was last seen running towards Highholm Street.

Anyone with information is asked to phone police on 101 or Crimestoppers anonymously on 0800 555 111.