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This is the moment a knife-wielding robber was smacked in the head with a baseball bat by a brave but terrified shop worker.

Katarzyna Gurgul, 32, said she thought about making it home to see her 10-year-old son when she hit the thug so hard the bat made a "very loud" noise against his skull.

Miss Gurgul was working in Jim's News on Fountains Road, Kirkdale , when the armed man walked in at around 10.45am on Wednesday.

But the thug, armed with a huge kitchen knife , let his guard down for a split second giving Miss Gurgul the opportunity to send him packing.

Merseyside Police are now hunting for the suspect.

Miss Gurgul told the ECHO : "It was a normal day. There was a moment of quiet so I went into the stock room in the back to get some stuff, and I heard the noise when the customers come through the door.

(Image: Katarzyna Gurgul)

"I went into the shop and there was a tall, skinny guy in a grey tracksuit with the hood pulled tight over his face. I could only see his eyes."

Miss Gurgul initially thought it was a customer playing a prank, but soon realised she was the victim of an attempted robbery.

She said: "He said 'give me the money, give me the money'. I said 'is this a joke', because there are some weird people and sometimes the customers say 'give me all the money' as a joke.

"But he said 'give me the f****** money or I will cut you', and he took out a knife."

The stunned mum said she realised all the money in the till had been recently picked up by a delivery driver leaving it empty, and feared the knifeman's reaction.

(Image: Katarzyna Gurgul)

She said: "I was scared if I told him it was empty he would do something. I looked to my left and my right and that's when I saw the baseball bat. I thought that's my only chance.

"There was a noise from the door that distracted him for a second, when he turned to look if someone was coming in, and I thought this is the only one chance to scare him.

"I hit him in the head with the bat and it made a very loud noise, I thought he would fall down but he ran out of the shop and I chased him."

Miss Gurgul said the thought of her family gave her the courage to strike the man.

She said: "I thought of my son at home and my family and I thought; you need to protect yourself."

The robber fled in the direction of Maregreen Road, leaving Miss Gurgul to realise the danger she had just escaped.

(Image: Katarzyna Gurgul)

She said: "I started crying and shaking, and I gave my phone to a woman who had just come in and told her to call my partner.

"We called the police straight away and they were brilliant, they came within five to 10 minutes and they were looking for him."

Miss Gurgul's boyfriend, Stephen Higgins, told the ECHO he found her crying and shaking from the effects of the incident.

Miss Gurgul said: "It was very, very scary. I am scared now every time I hear the door when a customer comes in."