A "brave" family fought off a gang of gun-toting and knife-weilding robbers at their Barnoldswick shop despite fearing for their lives.

Mike Crockett, 45, foiled the trio of masked raiders by "instinctively" throwing himself on one of the balaclava-clad gang and attempting to restrain him.

And his 46-year-old wife Elaine, who was held at knifepoint by another member of the gang, said her husband’s actions inspired her to confront him.

Following a tussle with the couple and their 18-year-old son James, the robbers eventually managed to flee the scene, leaving the gun behind.

Police investigating the armed robbery confirmed the gun was an imitation and hailed the family for acting in a "courageous" manner.

The trio of robbers, dressed in black balaclavas, burst through the door of R&J Hodder General Store and Phoenix Video, Skipton Road, Barnoldswick, at 7pm on Saturday.

Mrs Crockett, who was alone in the shop at the time, thought it was "a joke" when the gang demanded money from the till.

She said: “I was putting DVDs away and heard the door slam open. People usually just walk in, so I thought it was kids and when he told me to give him the money I laughed at first.

“Then he put a knife with a six-inch blade right in my face, swore at me and told me to shut up.

“My vision went blurry, but then I looked into his brown eyes and thought no, I won’t give you my money.

“I work long hours and stand there all day, so why should I just hand it over? Then I shouted for Mike and within seconds he was there.”

Mr Crockett, whose family’s living quarters are attached to the shop, said he spotted the gun-toting robber as soon as he emerged from the lounge.

He said: “I was having my dinner and I could hear muttering and something about money before Elaine called me. It all happened in a few seconds.

“I looked around the fridge in the shop and one of them pointed a gun in my face, so I jumped on him straight away and we crashed into the back wall.

“When I was staring down the barrel of the gun I thought I was dead, but I went for it anyway.”

One of the gang fled the scene as soon as Mr Crockett appeared on the scene, leaving the couple to tackle the remaining two masked raiders.

Mrs Crockett said her husband’s bravery gave her the ‘strength’ to ‘handle’ the knife-wielding attacker, who managed to escape her clutches despite her best efforts.

And her son James, who took on the final robber with his parents, said his fear ‘vanished’ when he arrived on the scene.

Mrs Crockett, who has run the store with her husband for two years, said they had ‘surprised themselves’ with their vigilant actions. And she has been left ‘shocked’ and ‘angry’ by the attack.

She said: “My mum died earlier this year and I was just getting back to normal after that, but now this has set me back a bit.

“We’re just a normal family and we’re determined to stand firm and prepared to fight. We know if anything like this happened again, we’d be able to deal with it.”

Also in the living quarters at the time of the attack was 13-year-old son Sean.

Two of the raiders are described as being around 6ft and the other around 5ft 8ins.

Mr Crockett believes one of the gang will have facial injuries.

DI Sion Hall described the incident as a ‘nasty’ attack and is appealing for witnesses to come forward.

Anyone with information should call Nelson CID on 01282 472644 or Crimestoppers on 0800 555 111.