A WOMAN was left shaken after a drunk man tried to smash his way into a petrol station shop in the early hours of the morning.

The woman, who co-owns the shop, was working at the tills at the Texaco petrol garage, at Southchurch Road, Southchurch, during the early hours of the morning when the man began acting aggressively.

The shop was locked and operating its “night pay” procedure which sees the checkout attendant serve customers through a flap.

Kamran Khan, the brother of the co-owner of the store, who also works there and operates its 24-hour delivery service, was out in Leigh on a delivery when he received a frantic call from 61-year-old Sue Ellis.

Mr Khan told the Echo: “I was out on a delivery when Sue called me.

Clacton and Frinton Gazette:

“She was really scared. This man just came out of nowhere and came at the window aggressively.

“He was hurling abuse at Sue, and was trying to kick through the doors and break through the back window.

“Then he started kicking my car. He broke the side mirror and dented the door.

“He was there for about ten minutes.”

The 31-year-old added: “I tried to get back as quickly as I could but he was gone by the time I got back. Sue is still really shaken up.”

The CCTV footage shows the man behaving aggressively at the window and hitting the glass before kicking Kamran’s car.

He appears to be with another man, who is attempting to hold him back.

Mr Khan added: “We are just trying to run a business and we don’t need people doing this sort of thing.

“Most of customers are regulars, this is the first time something like this has happened, although there is always a lot of drama around here at night.

“Usually, either myself or my brother are with Sue in the shop but the one time she was alone was when something happened.”

The incident has not yet been reported to the police.