TWO masked raiders threatened a Pershore antiques dealer with a knife and tied him up before making off with clocks worth between £6,000 and £10,000.

The masked men taped the arms and legs of Peter Ridler, owner of Hansen Chard Antiques in the High Street, during the terrifying incident last Friday.

Now police are urging witnesses to contact them.

At about 10.30am, two young men wearing masks entered the shop.

"These couple of guys burst into the shop, one carrying a knife and they were both masked," said Mr Ridler, aged 59.

"They said they were going to take some clocks and that I should keep quiet. They knocked me down and then used sticky tape to secure my hands and legs and then took me upstairs.

"While one kept guard over me, the other went down and loaded eight or 10 clocks and then they both disappeared." Mr Ridler said it took him a while to free himself from the tape so that he could ring the police.

One of the offenders is a white male in his late teens to early 20s, 5ft 8in to 5ft 9in tall and of proportionate build. He had dark eyebrows, a thinnish face and was clean-shaven.

He wore a light grey or cream hooded top, which was up, dark blue or black trousers and his face was covered in a fine mesh-line stocking mask.

The other raider was a white male, 5ft 10in to 6ft tall and well built. He was wearing a dark blue top which had a light-coloured motif on the lower front, black, lightweight jogging bottoms with white or silver stripes down the outside of each leg and a dark blue, woollen Balaclava with a large hole for his eyes.

Evesham Police would also like any information about a blue, three-door Vauxhall Astra GL, G-J reg, which was seen in the area, either attended or unattended, between 9.30 and 10.30am, on the day of the raid.

"I have been here 17 years and this is the first time anything like this has happened," Mr Ridler said. "It was a terrifying experience but I have escaped with nothing worse than abrasions and bruises."

Investigating officer Det Sgt Pete Andrews said: "Although unharmed, Mr Ridler was left shocked by this terrifying ordeal. I would appeal to anyone with information relating to this robbery, in particular to anyone who witnessed items being placed in a vehicle outside the shop, to contact Evesham CID on 01905 72388 or Crimestoppers anonymously on 0800 555 111."