A BRAVE shop assistant hit an armed robber over the head with a stick after she was threatened in a raid.

The 40-year-old woman grabbed the stick after two robbers walked into the MS Supermarket in Sutton Road, Kidderminster, on Saturday evening.

The ordeal started at 10pm when the assistant was counting the takings and one man went behind the counter and began to steal money.

"The victim was threatened with violence if she resisted demands for cash," said a spokesman for Kidderminster police.

"A knife and a long stick had been brought in by the men and were on top of the counter. The victim was able to pick up the stick and hit one over the head.

"She was then hit in the face with an unknown object or fist."

The assistant was left with a cut and bruising around her left eye, which needed hospital treatment.

The man who went behind the counter is described as black, aged 35, and 6ft tall. He was thin and was wearing a black cotton waist-length coat.

A black Renault 19, registration L675 UTR, was seen in the area and was later involved in an armed robbery at McDonald's in Wolverhampton.

The hold-up at the supermarket was one of two separate armed robberies in Kidderminster last Saturday.

Earlier, a gunman walked into Stars News Shop in Burcher Green and demanded money from the till.

The two assistants - a 19-year-old man and a woman aged 18 - handed over cash before the robber fled.

'Frightened'

Police said both teenagers were "very frightened" by their ordeal, which happened at 3.28pm.

The robber was described as white, aged 25-30, and 5ft 6in tall.

He was wearing a black coat with the collar turned up and a black hat pulled down over his ears. He had blond eyebrows and a darker-coloured goatee beard.

Anyone with information should call Kidderminster CID on 01562 820888 or Crimestoppers on 0800 555111.