A Waitrose employee has been praised for her bravery after she foiled two men who tried to rob an old lady in broad daylight.

The shelf-stacker, who did not want to be named, went after the two thieves after one had taken a cash card from the pensioner before demanding her pin code.

The incident happened at midday on Thursday of last week outside the Temple Fortune Waitrose in Finchley Road.

Jane Yatsenko said: “One was walking towards me the other was walking behind an old lady with a walking stick. The man walking towards me tried to distract me with some ridiculous question about ‘Is Barnet Station near here?’ to which I said ‘You know it isn’t’. At this moment the other man following the old lady with a stick grabbed her cash card out of her hand and demanded the code.

“No one did anything. There was even a security guard delivering or collecting money from the bank right there.

“No one except the Waitrose employee, who ran past me and round the corner where the muggers had gone. She returned with the old lady’s cash card.’’

“I was amazed at how brave and selfless the Waitrose staff member was. She is very little too.”