A GUN-TOTING robber grabbed a terrified shopkeeper by the throat and demanded he hand over cash.

The raider, who was wearing a balaclava, walked into A & K News in Elgin Street, Halliwell, at 9.50pm on Wednesday.

He demanded Ramish Patel, aged 58, close the shop.

The shopkeeper thought the robber was joking and asked if the gun was real.

The robber then grabbed him by the throat and pushed him up against a shelf.

His wife, Kamraben, and 27-year-old daughter, Priya, had been at a barbecue nearby and walked into the shop as the robbery was unfolding.

The robber then pushed Mrs Patel, aged 54, against a freezer, and she and Priya managed to push him out of the shop.

Police think the incident may be linked to a similar incident at Betfred in Halliwell Road, which happened on Saturday night.

Mrs Patel said: “We have been here for 24 years and nothing like this has ever happened.

“It happened very quickly, only a few seconds. I walked in with my daughter and saw a man had my husband held up by the throat.

“He then came over and pushed me, and my daughter and I managed to push him out of the shop.

“We were shaking afterwards. I saw the gun but I don’t know if it was real, it might have been homemade.

“He did not manage to get away with anything but he needs to be caught before he tries to do this to someone else.”