Two armed robbers wearing Scream-style Halloween masks fled empty-handed after an Essex shopworker refused to comply with their demands.
The 36-year-old employee of Paperhouse Newsagents in Clacton tried to rip the masks from his attackers, even though they held a gun to his head.
An Essex Police spokesman said: "Tackling armed robbers is not something we would advise, but this shopkeeper acted very bravely to try to apprehend the suspects and reveal their identities."
Also in Clacton, police believe two armed robberies which took place 71 days apart may be linked. Detectives believe the raider who struck at a Spar store in St Osyth could be the same man who brandished a handgun at a store in July.

A teenager has been charged with robbery after escaping with a till from a store in Gateshead.
Staff at General Dealers were threatened with a knife and told to fill a bag with money by the 17-year-old. He then grabbed the till and fled.
Police studied CCTV before arresting the teenager.

A gang armed with an axe and a crowbar threatened a sales assistant and escaped with the till contents.
The three men entered the Londis store in Exning, near Newmarket, and demanded the keys to the safe, but the assistant escaped to raise the alarm.
The men are thought to have made their getaway in a black Nissan car.

Two masked men armed with pistols burst into a Co-op store in Claregate, Wolverhampton, and held up staff before escaping with cash from the tills.
Although nobody was injured and no shots were fired during the incident, police reported that staff were left terrified by the raid.

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