A 64-YEAR-OLD man out shopping with his wife gave chase to armed robbers at Otley's Safeway supermarket.

Samuel Curzon ran to the aid of a security guard who was beaten with a pickaxe handle by the gang as he left the Westgate store with a cash box.

With no thought to his own safety, Mr Curzon, who as a young man ran for his native Hungary, chased the men as they fled in a stolen car, pulling one man over and holding on to the car door.

"I just couldn't stand by and watch it all happen. The security man was lying on the floor screaming and shouting for help. I just thought that could be me or one of my family, and that I must help him," he said.

Police were this week still hunting the gang, who struck at around 10.10am last Thursday. Mr Curzon, of The Broadwalk, Otley, was standing close to the security van as it waited for the guard to return from the store.

"I could see one man sitting inside the van, another one came out of the back of Safeway and he bumped into my wife. At the same time I could see a car edging its way out from some parked cars.

"I could see one driver and four men inside the car and they were all wearing thick balaclavas," he said.

Realising something was going to happen, Mr Curzon led his wife to safety.

"The men jumped out of the car screaming and shouting, they knocked the security man down. One of them had a pickaxe handle and another had a sledgehammer.

"The security man was absolutely terrified and was screaming for help. There were a lot of people coming and going, but no-one seemed to want to get involved."

Mr Curzon added: "My wife was terrified and tried to pull me back, but I said no, it could be me or my family. I just thought it was so unfair these four men attacking this poor geezer."

Mr Curzon continued to chase after the men even when they drove off out of the car park.

He grabbed hold of one of the men and prevented him from getting into the car which was heading for the Burras Lane exit.

"I went mad and ran towards them. Three of them got into the car but the fourth man couldn't get in. I managed to grab hold of his shirt but I've got a frozen shoulder and couldn't hold on.

"He reached the car but because I'd got hold of him, he fell and couldn't get in."

The man, who was holding on to a cash box, was pulled into the car by his friends.

"I was holding onto the door but the car pulled away, screeching its tyres as it got away," he said.

Mr Curzon believed he had earlier seen one of the men inside the supermarket.

"I saw him earlier with a balaclava pulled up on his head, I noticed him because it was hot and he was wearing a balaclava."

The car, a stolen Toyota Carina, was abandoned in Station Road where it was set on fire. The robbers swapped it for a stolen Vauxhall Astra, which had been parked nearby, and drove to East Keswick where it, too, was set on fire.

The security guard was taken to Leeds General Infirmary where he was treated and later released.

A spokeswoman for Safeway Supermarket said that fortunately no-one had been seriously injured in the attack.

She added: "Safeway staff have been helping with investigations and it is now a police matter."

Police are appealing for witnesses to call Weetwood Police Station on (0113) 2413459.

l Ram raiders who failed to get into a Horsforth off-licence returned the next day to a nearby shop.

Two stolen Ford Escorts were used in the first attack at 3.40am on Friday.

One of the cars was driven into the window of Wine Ways in New Road Side but abandoned after it got stuck on the security grille.

The thieves, who left with nothing, returned the next day in the remaining Ford Escort and at 4.50am smashed the window of Booze Busters.

They got away with a quantity of cigarettes. They were around 18 to 25 years old and were wearing balaclavas.

Anyone with any information is asked to telephone Crimestoppers on (0800) 555111.