A shopkeeper has been left terrified after being told “give me the money or you will die” in an attempted robbery.

Violet Parmar was working at Parmar Newsagents in Barming when a young man is said to have entered with an empty bottle, asking for alcohol.

After being told none was sold on the premises, he reportedly left and returned twice more before smashing the bottle on a wall outside, and threatening the 59-year-old with it.

Mrs Parmar's husband, Stuart, said the man, believed to be between 18 and 20-years-old, told his wife he would kill her if she didn't hand over the contents of the till.

The alleged robber is then said to have turned the shattered glass on a young boy in the store, who tried to intervene.

Running outside to find help, the terrified youngster urged a member of the public to call the police.

Still being held up in the Tonbridge Road store, Mrs Parmar began screaming and frantically trying to set off the alarm to attract attention.

After telling the man she’d called for help, he fled the store. This is the second time Mrs Parmar has been threatened, and now feels too terrified to return to work.

Mr Parmar, who has co-owned the store with his wife for more than 30 years, said she has been left shaken and nervous.

He added: “She had not gotten over the last time this happened so this has just made things worse. She is always nervous of people coming in the store and worries what they are going to do.

"Things like this can leave a mental scar. Violet called me after the second time he entered the store, she asked me to come down because he was drunk and smelt of alcohol. By the time I got there a lot of police and people were outside.

"You don’t think these kind of things are going to happen in the middle of the afternoon. The young children were terrified. I was really worried about Violet and tried my best to comfort her."

Police are now combing through CCTV footage from neighbouring shops.

A heavy police presence descended on the area following the incident, which happened on Saturday, just after 4.30pm.

An officer was seen standing outside the premises, preventing members of the public from entering while investigations took place.

Two force cars and a van which were parked outside the cordoned-off store left at 7.30pm.

A Kent Police spokesman confirmed a report of an attempted robbery has been received and that inquiries are ongoing.