By Daily Mail Reporter
PUBLISHED: 20:07 EST, 10 February 2014 | UPDATED: 20:07 EST, 10 February 2014
A grandmother whose hairdressing salon was targeted by a knife-wielding raider told him 'you must be joking' before throwing him outside.
The masked thug burst into the shop in Rothwell, Leeds, with a 10in hunting blade and demanded cash.
But Ann Dalton, 65, who has had the salon for 44 years, stood her ground. She said: 'My two daughters and granddaughter were in the shop, as well as my clients, so I felt like I needed to defend them ... I felt really calm.
'I said to him, 'You must be joking' ... but he came towards me with the knife. I didn't think, I got behind the door and just yanked him out past me. I managed to grab his arm and throw him down the stairs.'
Mrs Dalton said the man was 'in complete shock' and ran away. She added: 'I didn't think about what I was doing, I just reacted. I'm not being threatened in my own property.'
The attempted robbery happened at the salon in Rothwell, Leeds, West Yorkshire, just after 1.30pm on Friday.
Mrs Dalton, who has worked at the salon for 44 years, was colouring her 26-year-old daughter Stephanie Dalton's hair when the raider walked in.
Her eldest daughter Nicola Maddock, 36, was cutting a customer's hair and Nicola's three year-old daughter Alexia was with hairdresser Susan Ward in a back room.
Mrs Dalton, who puts her lightning-quick reaction down to the fact she used to waterski as a youngster, said: 'I felt very protective of my shop. I've been here since I was 21, my two daughters and grandaughter were in the shop, as well as my clients, so I felt like I needed to defend them.'
She explained: 'A man walked into the shop, looked around and then pulled up this balaclava over his face.
'He came over towards the basins carrying this huge ten-inch knife with a serrated blade. He was very edgy, bobbing about.
'He was saying, 'nobody move, give me all your jewellery, all your money, all your valuables'.
'My daughter Stephanie jumped up, ran across the shop and into another room and locked the door, and called the police.
'Stephanie was screaming in the office, but I felt really calm. I said to him, 'You must be joking'.
'He went to go after Stephanie with the knife so I ran for the door because I was going to run out into the street and shout for someone to help.
'There are four steps up to our shop from the street so I managed to grab his arm and throw him down the stairs.
'As he flew past the knife touched me and pointed towards my face.
'I was just furious with him. I shouted at him, 'get away, get away'. He was standing on the pavement outside the shop in complete shock, looking at me like he didn't know what to do. I went inside and shut the door on him and he ran away.'Everybody inside was screaming but I was really calm. My daughters were really upset about it, especially when they saw me tussling with this guy.
'I've been surprisingly calm about the whole thing. I think my reactions were so quick because I used to do waterskiing.'
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