Masked robbers chased off by 'Shakespeare's ghost'

Three masked raiders were chased off by a man dressed as Shakespeare's ghost after targeting a jewellers yards from the Bard's birthplace.

John Jarvis, 62, knocked one of the robbers to the floor with a garlanded walking stick as they fled the scene in Stratford-upon-Avon, Warwickshire.

Another bystander reportedly hurled a chair at the offenders, who used a crowbar and sledgehammers to smash a window containing a display of watches.

Mr Jarvis, who was entertaining tourists when the raiders struck at about 11am on Wednesday, said: "I was stood on my box doing my show and three chaps came running down the alley with big hammers.

"They gave the jeweller's (window) a right old bashing and they came running back towards me, one of them swinging a crowbar - so I took a swing at him."

Asked what they made of being confronted by a 'ghost', he joked: "It was a frightening experience I should imagine."

No one at the Christopher Poel Jewellery store was injured during the raid and the offenders did not gain entry to the premises.

Police said two men, aged 19 and 28, had been arrested in connection with the incident.