A shop manager was threatened with a gun in a robbery at a post office in Bradford, a jury heard.

Brian Cussons told how the black handgun was pointed at him when two masked raiders targeted Thornton Post Office in Kipping Lane, on October 16 last year.

Mr Cussons, who served in the Army for seven years, was behind the till in the shop area when he was confronted by two men wearing white forensic-type suits and dust masks at 4.20pm.

One stood in the doorway waving the gun at him while the second rushed to the Post Office area.

“I was scared, I was nervous, I really couldn’t think what would happen next,” Mr Cussons told the jury at Bradford Crown Court yesterday.

He said he heard a commotion in the Post Office area as if something was being thrown at the window.

Mr Cussons said the men fled empty-handed after they failed to open his till and the panic alarm went off.

Hugh Munro, 48, of Wakefield Row, Wakefield, and Mark Reynolds, 39, of Harewood Avenue, Chequerfield, Pontefract, deny attempted robbery and having an imitation firearm with intent.

They are accused of trying to steal money from Mr Cussons and temporary postmaster James Gibbons, both on duty in the store.

Prosecutor Sam Andrews said the Crown’s case was that Reynolds pointed a replica handgun at Mr Cussons.

Mr Andrews alleges Munro then tried to smash his way through reinforced glass in the Post Office area with a piece of stone wrapped in a pillowcase.

The glass cracked and shattered but Mr Gibbons pressed the panic button and a brave customer tackled the raider, the jury heard.

The court heard that Munro ordered Mr Cussons to open his till and shook it himself to try to get at the money.

The men ran from the shop and turned towards Market Street, Mr Andrews said.

When questioned by the police, the defendants said they were in Bradford that day looking for work but had nothing to do with the robbery attempt.

Mr Andrews has told the jury DNA evidence linked Reynolds to a dust mask found nearby and blood on the cloth wrapping the stone matched Munro’s.

The trial continues.