A BODYBUILDING check-out operator rugby-tackled a man at a Maidstone supermarket after £200 was snatched from a till.

Michael Ramshaw, who works part-time at Sainsbury's, Romney Place, sprang into action on Saturday morning alerted by screams from a colleague on the till next to him.

The 19-year-old chased a man out of the store towards the escalator by the Chequers Shopping Centre, where he tackled him and put him in an arm lock until security guards arrived.

Mr Ramshaw, of Boxley Road, Maidstone, is a first team rugby player for Aylesford RFC and a student at Mid Kent College, Horsted, Chatham, where he is training to become a fitness instructor.

He was back on the tills 10 minutes after the incident. The supermarket offered him a free CD as thanks.

Store manager John Webb said he was grateful for Mr Ramshaw's efforts, but many of his staff had shown similar courage tackling thieves in the past. *

*Sean Kernick, 33, from East Sussex, has been charged with theft and bailed to appear in court on Wednesday.