A BRAVE Farnham pensioner thwarted an attempted raid on a building society in the town centre by a group of youths.
The first man came in and picked up a leaflet then left, followed shortly by another, which sparked off the pensioner's suspicion.
He then went to the front of the building society, where he saw two men in balaclavas running towards the door.
He quickly slammed the door shut, which activated a security lock on the outside of the door, barring their entry.
Shouting at the youth inside the building, the pensioner demanded that he leave, and pushed him out of the door, which had remained unlocked from the inside.
The group were then seen leaving the area at high speed in a red car.
A police spokesperson said the youths had been seen previously in the Bristol and West.
One of the two men without balaclavas was described as 5ft 10, medium build, in his early 20's, and wearing a blue jacket.
The other was between 18 and 19, 5ft 4, of small build, with a brown waist-length jacket and was carrying a mobile phone.
Those wearing the balaclavas were described as being black, and 5ft 6.
Cheryl Williams, public relations officer for Bristol and West, said:
"We are really proud of the way staff acted during what was a distressing incident, and also the customer in dealing with it."
Reassuring customers, she said: "We have a wide range of security measures including security doors designed to protect staff and customers."
Police are currently checking CCTV records in relation to this incident, which happened last Thursday (November 15), between 3-30 and 3-40 pm. If anyone has any information, please contact Farnham Police on (01252) 716262.