A councillor managed to foil a raid on his jewellery shop in the early hours of this morning when he slammed his window on a robber’s fingers.

Cllr Jeff Tucker (Independent Local Resident’ Group, Rainham) prevented an attempted raid on Goldmine Jewellers in Upminster Road South, Rainham on Wednesday August 10 at around 12am after he confronted the masked robbers.

Cllr Tucker said: “It has left me a bit shocked and shaken because they were just seemed really determined to get in.

“At the time I just tried everything I could to keep them out of the shop and I just did my best to try to sort it out”

Cllr Tucker, who has been running the shop for the 21 years, was awoken up by a loud noise and felt that the building was shaking.

When he looked out of the window, he saw a group of masked raiders armed with sledge hammers throwing bricks at the shop window.

One of the robbers jumped up to his bedroom window with his fingers resting on the window pane trying to push his way through into building, when he slammed the window shut, catching the robber’s fingers.

After calling the police, he went downstairs to the shop to confront the robbers before they escaped.

He said: “They just didn’t seem scared.

“I tried to scare them away when I opened the window, but they just didn’t care, it was only when I went downstairs to sort them out myself that they got away.”

The shop has also been targeted in the past by other attempted raiders and Cllr Tucker has also been confronted by someone wielding a gun in the shop.

Luckily he says that his wife and kids were not at home at the time of the raid but he says that he may be forced to close because of the risk to their lives.

He said: “I think I might have to call it a day, I am not worried about myself, because I can defend myself but I have to think about my family.

“Whatever happens I am determined to see justice and I will follow it all the way through.”