A man has pleaded guilty to affray and possession of an offensive weapon after terrorising customers in a Lloydspharmacy branch in Lancashire.

Fifty-year-old Andrew Angus threatened a group of customers in a branch on Deepdale Road, Preston, last June, using a makeshift weapon that resembled a knife, Preston Crown Court heard last week (July 3).

Mr Angus was deterred by the pharmacy's dispenser Rajiv Bhatt, who stepped in to help when the incident occurred."My instinct to protect [the customers] took over and I managed to convince the man to leave the store before anything terrible could happen," he told C+D.

Although Mr Bhatt worried his colleagues and customers were "at risk of being harmed" during the incident, he said he did not have time to feel scared as all his efforts were spent ensuring Mr Angus left the pharmacy.

Mr Bhatt believed that it was his "responsibility and duty" to protect those in the store at the time, he said.

Mr Angus received two years supervision, mental health treatment and a 15-month sentence, which was suspended for two years, for the offence.