A PLUCKY shopkeeper saw off two masked gunmen who burst into his shop and demanded money.

Tom Irving, 60, said he "didn't think twice" before tackling one of the attackers who confronted him at T&M Stores, known as the Kit Kat shop, in Newby Terrace, York, last night.

He suffered cuts and bruises to his head and face in a struggle, but the two men - who were holding black, long-barrelled pistols and wearing green Hallowe'en-style rubber hooded masks - fled empty-handed.

The attack came almost exactly a year after an armed man threatened to shoot a passer-by who intervened in another failed armed robbery at the store.

Mr Irving, who has run the corner shop for 15 years, told the Evening Press that the drama began at about 9pm - half-an-hour before clsing time- when the men ran in and shouted "give us the money and put it in a bag".

"I tackled one of them and we had a bit of a to-do. It seemed like ages but it was just a few seconds. We had a fight and the other man said 'let's get out of here' and they ran out," he said.

Mr Irving said his jumper was torn from his shoulder and shelves full of stock were knocked to the floor in the struggle with one of the men.

He said: "I was not scared at the time, but I was afterwards I must admit. The police emergency operator did a great job at calming me down. It was like speaking to a counsellor."

He said the two men, who were wearing identical dark blue or black woollen jumpers, "could have been twins".

"It almost looked like they had just come from work," he added.

Mr Irving did not need hospital treatment for his injuries.

Detectives from York CID are now investigating the attempted robbery and have appealed for anyone who was in the area near York Hospital, off Wigginton Road, to call York Police on 01904 631321.

Sergeant Colin Ventress said officers would like to speak to the owners of a blue Vauxhall Astra, registration J644 GFM, to eliminate it from their inquiries.

In last November's incident, shop assistant Sandra Jamieson was threatened with a black handgun by two raiders who made off with the till. Postman James Clarke ran after the robbers, who panicked and dropped the till containing £50.

Updated: 15:35 Tuesday, November 04, 2003