A doctor told today how he grappled with armed bank robbers moments after they had blasted at a security guard with a shotgun.

Despite being beaten and threatened, the doctor jumped in his own car and chased after the raiders as they fled the robbery which saw the guard escape death by inches when the gun went off.

Detectives today praised the medic for his efforts, but he said simply: "I wasn't trying to be a hero. I was just doing what I thought was right."

The 35-year-old doctor, who wishes to remain anonymous, was collecting a takeaway from Duckworth Lane on his way home from work when a young man ran up to him open-mouthed and pointed to a Securicor van parked a short distance away where a security guard was rolling around the ground with two hooded armed robbers.

"It looked like something out of a movie," the doctor said. "Then I heard a weapon being used to beat the security guard's helmet really hard and I realised it was no film."

The married Bradford man said it took him a few seconds to register what was happening and he ran to the guard's aid.

"My first thought was to get them to stop beating him," he said. "I threw my bag of food on the floor and ran towards the gang shouting: 'Stop. What are you doing?'

"Then a third person came out of a doorway of the bank and I heard a loud bang as a shot was fired near the guard into the air."

And the robbers - who had snatched a bag of cash from the guard on Tuesday night - turned towards the doctor.

"One had a weapon in his hand, but I didn't know it was a gun. He ran towards me and I thought he was going to have a go at me. He shouted: 'Stay out of it'."

The raider jumped into a stolen Volvo car and the doctor tried to stop him shutting the door. Another of the gang hopped into the passenger side and the doctor, a father-of-two, felt blows to his shoulder and neck as the third robber beat him to the ground. Even then he refused to give up as the robbers fled.

"My adrenalin was pumping and I ran towards some big, commercial, metal bins and tried to push one in front of the getaway car."

The bin bounced off the side of the car and the gang sped off. "That really made me angry," the doctor added. He jumped into his own car to find out where the teenage gang had fled to.

"I could see the car on the road ahead and drove over a pavement to get to them."

And there he saw the car abandoned, before hearing another vehicle screech off. He then called the police on his mobile.

But the doctor claimed he wasn't a hero, simply acting on gut instinct. "I was raised not to ignore people getting attacked," he said. His ordeal left him with a bruised wrist, sore shoulder and neck and a cut to his ankle.

Today officers praised his actions.

Detective Inspector George Marshall, who is leading the investigation into the robbery, said: "It would have been very easy for this man to turn a blind eye and have let this occur unchecked. It was a very brave and public spirited thing to do."

The raiders are all Asian, in their late teens to early 20s. They wore balaclavas and dark gloves.