A ‘brave’ young man has been heralded for his heroic actions after he chased off two masked men armed with an imitation gun and a stick.

22-year-old, Hridesh Tiwari, a Biomedical Engineering student at the University of Bradford was starting his shift alone at the Premier Stores on Halesworth Crescent, Holmewood when the intruders came in through the back entrance.

He saw a man with a stick come through the door and another with an imitation gun shouting ‘give us the money’.

Mr Tiwari said: “I wasn’t scared, but because I work here, everything is my responsibility.

“It wasn’t until they were saying I’m going to shoot you that I was scared.

Bradford Telegraph and Argus: Premier Stores on Halesworth Crescent, Tong. Image: Newsquest Premier Stores on Halesworth Crescent, Tong. Image: Newsquest (Image: Newsquest)

“They asked for the money and the man with the stick came running towards me, I got the stick off of him and chased them out of the shop.”

The incident happened at around 7:30 on January 31, 2023, with a man being jailed in connection with it today. 

Mr Tiwari, who lives in Holme Wood has been in Bradford for just over a year now, after moving to the UK from Nepal to study.

He felt his actions were ‘brave’ and he was ‘proud’ of what he had done.

“I’m generally a brave person. I have helped a lot of people from different situations.

“When I told my parents they were really proud of me and we’re really happy about what I did.”

After chasing the men off, Hridesh called his boss, who reported the incident to West Yorkshire Police.

Al Patel, Owner of Halesworth Crescent store, said: “He was obviously really brave and didn’t scare at all.

“He handled the situation really well.

“We’re very proud because he stopped it, and it could have been a lot worse.”

Mr Patel described Hridesh as an ‘honest, hardworking and brave’ employee.

Mr Tiwari added: “I thought if they can do this today or this once, then they’ll try again.

“I literally gave them a run for the money.”