A shop owner has spoken of the terrifying moment three ultra-violent robbers burst in and beat his wife and a customer unconscious.

Ghanshyam Patel suffered a black eye and a cut to the head during the attack at his shop in Mitcham.

Mr Patel’s wife Pallavi and a woman in her 60s were treated in hospital for head and facial injuries after being knocked unconscious by the men.

Wimbledon Times:

Police have launched an appeal for information after the hooded robbers took £3,000 cash and a laptop in the raid at Mitcham Food and Wine in London Road at 5.45pm on New Year’s Eve.

Mr Patel, 56, who has owned the business for 19 years, said: "I was sat down and the first boy came in wearing a hood. I couldn’t see his eyes.

"He jumped on the counter and came over.

"He punched me in my right eye and I fell down."

Mr Patel said at the same time, two other young men came into the shop.

He said one stood guard at the front door, blocking the entrance, and the other went to the back of the store.

A woman in her 60s walked through the door and was almost immediately struck unconscious by one of the men.

The first man opened the till and took out some money before ransacking the area behind the counter, finding a box where Mr Patel had the week’s takings stashed.

"I was very, very scared," he said.

"They might be drug addicts," he added.

Mr Patel, a father-of-two, said he was hit on the head by a card reader machine and although there was blood he did not need stitches on the wound.

Mrs Patel, 49, was knocked unconscious by one of the men when she tried to help her husband and was treated in hospital for a bleed on the brain.

Mr Patel said she had been pushed so hard she had hit her head on the floor.

She was kept in hospital for five days for observation before being released.

The men fled and Mr Patel called the police and an ambulance while sitting with the other casualties on the floor of the shop.

The customer is recovering well now, Mr Patel added.

The business has been open from 8am to 8pm seven days a week but Mr Patel said he would now close an hour earlier after the attack.

"I don’t want to be by myself," he added.

All three robbers were white and slim.

They were wearing dark clothing and had theirs face covered. One of the suspects had a distinctive yellow motif on his hooded top.

Anyone with any information is asked to contact Detective Constable Vicky Allen on 07517 777051 or via 101, or call Crimestoppers anonymously on 0800 555 111.