Two workmen have raised a toast to each other after they stopped a robber in his tracks following a dramatic till snatch.

Don Kenneally and Jason Boutwell were rewarded with a crate of lager each from a shop's grateful owners for helping to bring the thief to justice.

The pair were part of a team doing pavement improvement at the top of Market Hill in Maldon, working as security guards.

On January 29 they were operating gates at either end of the stretch of work to let buses through when they heard shouts from the nearby Iceland store in the High Street.

Mr Kenneally said he looked up and saw a man running towards him and several people calling for the man to stop. Instinctively he started to give chase and was joined by Mr Boutwell down Market Hill to Fullbridge.

"He was running past us so we just followed him and chased him for a couple of hundred yards," said Mr Kenneally.

"We managed to catch up with him and kicked him so he fell to the floor then we had to wait for about ten minutes for the police to come.

"He didn't struggle too much I think he may have been knocked out when he fell over."

He added: "The police were very grateful to us and they said thanks for helping and we also got a crate of lager each from Iceland."

The robber, Leslie Curren, 29, of Cross Road, Maldon, who snatched £370 from the till after pushing the cashier out of the way, was jailed for two and a half years on Friday at Chelmsford Crown Court. He had admitted robbery.

Mark Himsworth, mitigating, told how in the lead-up to the offence Curren suffered three bereavements. His brother died in a scaffolding accident, and he also lost his uncle and a close family friend.

Mr Himsworth said: "That doesn't excuse his actions. He saw an opportunity and he took it. It was foolish in the extreme but it shows absolutely no premeditation and all the money was ultimately recovered."

Published Monday, March 25, 2002