Pregnant shopkeeper Shakeela Mahmood has spoken of her ordeal when an armed robber threatened to hit her with a hammer.

Miss Mahmood, who is expecting a baby in six weeks, was grabbed by the attacker and told to hand over cash from the till or he would hit her with the hammer.

She said that everything seemed to happen so quickly she barely had time to think about the safety of her unborn baby.

"At first he grabbed me by my jumper and told me to give him the money in the till," she said. "I turned to look at him and then I saw that he had a hammer in his hand and he was holding it above me."

Miss Mahmood, 22, said the attacker seemed nervous and unsure of what he was doing but she was not going to take the chance of trying to fend him off for fear that he may attack and damage her unborn child.

Instead, she told the robber he would have to release her so that she could turn around to get to the money in the till.

"Fortunately we don't keep all of the money in the till but there were still quite a few notes there," she said. "I took them and he grabbed them out of my hand then ran out of the shop."

Miss Mahmood called the police immediately and has given a description of the man. The robbery happened on Monday at 7.30pm at Park Off-Licence, Faringdon Road.

Miss Mahmood was working at the off-licence, which is owned by her family, to help her mother and auntie who are looking after the shop while her father is away in Pakistan. Following the attack, Miss Mahmood returned to her parents' home, with her 23-month-old child Anisha.

Anyone with any information should ring police on Swindon 528111.