A TEENAGER attacked a York shop worker and threatened to shoot her in a terrifying attempted robbery, she has said.

The raider also told victim Joanne Wright that he had a knife in his bag and demanded money from the till of the Millennium Food & Wine shop, which opened in Bishopthorpe Road only three weeks ago.

When he realised that Miss Wright, 28, was trying to phone police, he wrestled her to the ground and punched her in the head.

He fled empty-handed and a police manhunt is now under way. No gun or knife was actually seen in the incident.

Miss Wright, from Heworth, was checked over at the scene by paramedics following the incident on Monday afternoon and is now recovering from bumps and bruises to her head and scratches to her arm.

She said: “A young lad came in and had a look around to make sure no one else was here and said: ‘I want all the money out the till’.

“He pushed past me and tried to get the till open, couldn’t and smashed it up. When he realised I was trying to phone the police he wrestled me to the ground and punched me in the head.”

Owner Mehmet Akgul said he had briefly left the shop – which he opened three weeks ago – when the incident happened at about 12.40pm.

The suspect is described as white, of slim build, about 5ft 6in tall, aged in his late teens, with distinctive pale blue eyes.

He was wearing a three-quarter length royal blue rain jacket, elasticated around the waist, and with a thick black stripe across the shoulders. It had a blue hood and high collar that he used to cover his face.

He was also wearing dark tracksuit bottoms, dark grey gloves and carrying a dark JD sports drawstring bag with three white stripes on it.

Acting Det Insp Fiona Wynne, of York CID, said: “This was a terrifying experience for the member of staff which has left her very shaken and deeply upset.”

She said police were following a number of lines of inquiry and appealed for anyone with information to come forward.

She added: “We also need to know of any possible sightings of a man matching his description who was riding a mountain bike at around the time of the incident.”

Police dogs and armed response officers helped with the investigations on Monday and local patrols were stepped up, a police spokesman said.

Anyone with information is asked to phone police on 101.